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QUEEN VICTORIA 



BY 



RICHARD R. HOLMES, F.S.A 



LIBRARIAN TO THE QUEEN 



^ 



BOUSSOD, VALADON & CO., 

303 FIFTH AVENUE, 
NEW YORK. 



QUEEN VICTORIA 



BY 



RICHARD R. HOLMES, F.S.A. 



LIBRARIAN TO THE QUEEN 



* 



BOUSSOD, VALADON & 

303 FIFTH AVENUE, 
NEW YORKV 



(\S$3 



Copyright, 1897, 

by 

BOUSSOD, VALADON & CO. 



LOUIS WEISS & CO., Printers, 

116 Fulton Street, 

New York. 



PREFACE 

Some explanation seems to be due as to the 
origin of this biography, and as to the form 
which it has assumed. 

At the end of 1896 I was asked by the Pub- 
lishers, Messrs. Boussod, Valadon & Co., to 
write for them a biography of the Queen, which 
should be illustrated by pictures from the Royal 
Collections. As Librarian at Windsor Castle, 
I could not undertake the task without first 
asking and obtaining the permission of Her 
Majesty. 

Many little fables have from time to time 
grown up respecting the early life of Queen 
Victoria. It seemed, therefore, desirable to 
take this opportunity of correcting these inaccu- 
racies, and, with this object, Her Majesty most 
graciously consented to supply notes on her 
childhood and youth, and at the same time to 
correct matters of fact, especially in reference to 
the period before her accession to the throne, 
and more generally, throughout the volume. 

I am therefore, enabled to present, for the 
first time, an accurate account of the childhood 
and youth of Queen Victoria. 



For the remainder of the work I have de- 
pended on records already accessible to the 
general public, and especially on Her Majesty's 
published journals, and Sir Theodore Martin's 
Life of the Prince Consort. I desire also to ex- 
press my deep obligation to Mr. Rowland 
Prothero, who has, on behalf of Her Majesty 
read the proofs, and to whom I am indebted on 
every page of this biography. 

The pictures contained in the volume are not 
drawn from the political, naval, or military his- 
tory of the eventful and glorious reign of Queen 
Victoria. They rather illustrated Her Majesty's 
domestic life, and it, therefore, seemed to me 
more fitting that the accompanying biography 
should, in the main, deal with personal, and not 
with public events. For the selection of these 
illustrations my thanks are due to Mr. D. C. 
Thompson. 

In conclusion, I take the opportunity of reit- 
erating the explanatory statement made by me 
in a letter to the Times, published on March 
26th, 1897. For the plan of the work, its scope, 
the selection of the details, and the form in 
which they are presented, I am alone responsible. 

RICHARD R. HOLMES. 

Windsor Castle, 

September 1st, 189/. 



QUEEN VICTORIA. 



CHAPTER ONE. 

ANCESTRY OF THE QUEEN. 

Victoria, Queen and Empress, holds her unique posi- 
tion among the Soverigns of Great Britain not solely on 
account of the duration of her reign. Her Majesty, 
alone among the Queens Regnant who have preceded 
her, has been blessed with direct heirs. On three pre- 
vious occasions the sceptre has been held by female 
hands, and on each, at the death of the holder, the direct 
line of succession has been interrupted. Mary, the elder 
daughter of Henry VIII., who, after a short and troubled 
reign, died in 1558, left no issue by her husband, Philip 
of Spain. Under her successor, her half-sister Elizabeth, 
the English nation freed itself from the domination of 
Rome, crushed the power of Spain, laid the foundations 
of empire beyond the seas, and produced a literature 
which is the glory of our language. But Elizabeth died 
unmarried. At her death the direct line of the house of 
Tudor came to an end. The succession passed to the 
house of Stuart, through the marriage of Margaret, 
daughter of Henry VII., with James IV. of Scotland; 
and her great-grandson, James VI. of Scotland, the son 
of Elizabeth's rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, succeeded to 



the English throne. With the death of Queen Anne, 
the dynasty of the Stuarts, after giving four kings and 
two queens to the list of English Sovereigns, terminated. 
Anne's elder sister, Mary, had indeed enjoyed the title 
of Queen, but she shared the throne with her husband, 
William of Orange, who survived her. On William's 
death Anne became sole monarch, and proved to be the 
last Queen Regnant till the present reign. Her rule, like 
that of Elizabeth, was distinguished for triumphs both in 
peace and war, as well as for brilliancy in literature. By 
her marriage with George, Prince of Denmark, the 
promise of direct heirs was frequent; but of all her chil- 
dren one only, William, Duke of Gloucester, lived long 
enough to make the direct succession probable, and, at 
the age of eleven, he, too, sickened and died. Direct 
heirs of James II. did indeed exist, but their claim to the 
Crown was debarred by the Act of Settlement of 1701, 
which confined the succession to Sophia, Electress Dow- 
ager of Hanover, and her successors, being Protestants. 

Sophia, Electress of Hanover, was the twelfth child 
and youngest daughter of Frederick V., Elector Pala- 
tine and King of Bohemia, and of Elizabeth, daughter of 
James I. of England and VI. of Scotland. Born in 
1630, at The Hague, when the fortunes of her parents 
were at their lowest ebb, her own fortunes were as 
changeable, though in an inverse manner. Her memoirs 
give an interesting picture of her life at The Hague in 
her early years, and of the manners and intrigues of the 
exiled English Court. From her cousin, Charles, Prince 
of Wales, and afterwards King, she attracted much at- 
tention, and by many of the Royalists it was both be- 
lieved and hoped that she would become their future 
sovereign. In the Royal Library at Windsor is pre- 



served a curious memento of this passage in her life. It 
is a copy of a very early edition of the " Eikon Basilike," 
in which the young King, not liking the coarsely exe- 
cuted portrait of himself bound up in the volume, has 
attempted to soften its features by touches of a pen. 
These not proving satisfactory, he has inserted another 
and more pleasing engraving of himself, on the back of 
which he has written, " For the Princess Sophia." The 
young Princess, however, had strength of mind to resist 
the advances of the Prince, and obtained permission to 
leave The Hague. Several suitors for her hand appeared, 
and at length, shortly after the Restoration, she became 
the wife of Duke Ernest of Brunswick-Luneburg, after- 
wards Elector of Hanover. To him she proved an at- 
tached and faithful wife till his death in 1698. Sprightly, 
clever, and intelligent in her youth, she retained through- 
out her long life her powers of mind. A warm admirer 
and correspondent of Descartes, she was also a close and 
intimate friend of Leibnitz, who was her constant visitor 
at Herrenhausen, where she relieved her studies in phil- 
ososphy by the care she bestowed upon her gardens. 
In 1 70 1 the Act of Settlement placed her next in suc- 
cession to the Crown, which forty years before had been 
within her reach. But she died in the lifetime of Queen 
Anne, at whose death, a few weeks later, her son George, 
Elector of Hanover, was summoned to the vacant throne. 
Besides this Prince, the Electress Sophia had five other 
sons. Her only daughter, Sophia Charlotte, who mar- 
ried Frederick I., King of Prussia, and was mother of 
Frederick the Great, was a strong-minded and amiable 
princess, and had no small share in forming the char- 
acter of the Princess Caroline of Anspach, of whom men- 
tion will be made presently. 



In writing the life of a Queen whose personal influ- 
ence upon her time has been -so extraordinary, it is natu- 
ral to pay some attention to those female members of her 
ancestry who, though not themselves Queens Regnant, 
have influenced the course of events during their lives, 
and have transmitted to their descendants unmistakable 
traces of their personality. 

Margaret Tudor, through whom the blood of the 
earlier kings descends to the present race, bore a de- 
cided resemblance to her brother, Henry VIII. Im- 
petuous, fond of power and loving display, she yet exhib- 
ited great firmness and capacity in the troublous times 
which succeeded the death of hei; husband at Flodden, 
as well as in the guardianship of his son, James V. 

To the romantic and eventful life of her granddaugh- 
ter, Mary Queen of Scots, her complex character and 
tragic fate, a whole literature has been dedicated. No 
personage in history has commanded more potent ad- 
vocacy or been assailed by fiercer criticism. Born in 
1542, she became Queen of Scotland at her father's death 
at the close of the same year. Before six years had 
elapsed she was sent to France, as the betrothed bride of 
the Dauphin, afterward Francis II. There she was edu- 
cated, and her abilities, naturally great, were carefully 
developed. Her religious instruction was superintended 
with even more solicitude, for, as Queen of Scotland and 
a claimant to the throne of England, the hopes of Cath- 
olicism, and of the return of the British Islands to the 
supermacy of Rome rested upon her. She was married 
to Francis in April, 1556, and, on the death of Mary of 
England in November of the same year, she laid formal 
claim to the English throne in right of her descent from 
Henry VII., alleging as ground for her conduct the il- 



legitimacy of Elizabeth; and, notwithstanding that the 
latter was declared Queen without opposition, Mary and 
her husband assumed, and after their succession to the 
French throne, on the death of Henry II. in 1559, con- 
tinued to use, the titles of King and Queen of England, 
Scotland, and Ireland. This was the beginning of the 
bitter and lifelong animosity between the rival Queens. 

At the close of 1560, a few days before she was eigh- 
teen years of age, Mary Stuart's husband died. Her 
career in France was over; her rule over Scotland was 
but nominal, and her own religion was there proscribed. 
Still, after much hesitation, she ventured to return, and 
on the 18th of August, 1561, landed at Leith. After this, 
her marriages, her romantic friendships, her battles, suc- 
cesses and defeats, her imprisonment and escapes, her 
flight from her kingdom, her lonely captivity and final 
trial and execution, have been inexhaustible themes for 
poets, painters, and dramatists of every land. They are 
universally known; and it is unnecessary here to give 
even the merest outline of her history, particularly as the 
first volume of the series of historical works, of which 
the present volume forms a part, has been devoted to 
an exhaustive discussion of the subject, and the second 
contains the history of her great rival Queen Elizabeth, 
the two representing, from opposite points of view, the 
struggles of Catholicism and Protestantism for ascend- 
ancy in this kingdom. With the death of Mary the last 
hope of the revival of the domination of Rome departed. 

The consort of her son, James I. of England, the Prin- 
cess Anne, was the second daughter of Frederick II. of 
Denmark and Sophia, of the House of Mecklenburg. 
By her mother, who was a highly accomplished woman, 
skilled in astronomy, chemistry and other sciences, the 



future Queen was educated with the greatest care. A 
lively temperament, and a quick and cultured intelligence 
were not the only charms of the Queen. She added to 
these the personal attractions of fine features and a brill- 
iant complexion. It was from her that the Stuart family 
derived the features which are so familiar in the portraits 
of Henry, Prince of Wales, and of Charles I. and his 
descendants — a type so persistent and remarkable that, 
as Mr. Lang records in his latest work, describing 
Charles Edward Stuart in his youth, "A distinguished 
artists who outlined Charles's profile, and applied it to 
another of Her present Majesty in her youth, tells me 
that they are almost exact counterparts. " In politics 
Anne took little part; her tastes lay in other directions, 
and she is chiefly remembered by her connection with 
the history of the English stage, and by her patronage 
of Ben Jonson. She was a good wife and mother, and 
died beloved and respected by the nation. 

The noble character, heroic courage, and bitter mis- 
fortunes of her daughter Elizabeth have surrounded her 
memory with an immortal halo of romance. Born in 
1596, she accompanied her parents to England. There 
she was brought up in those principles of the Protestant 
religion, by her steady adherence to which she was the 
means of raising her descendants to her father's throne. 
In the pride of her youth and beauty she was married to 
the young Elector Palatine, Frederick V., a nephew of 
the famous warrior, Maurice, Prince of Orange. The 
alliance was universally popular, as it connected the Eng- 
lish royal family with some of the chief Protestant Courts 
in Europe. For some years her married life at Heidel- 
berg was happy and even splendid; but her husband's 
acceptance of the offer of the vacant Crown of Bohemia 



was the beginning of the series of difficulties which 
ended in the loss not only of that Crown, but of his 
ancient dominions in the Palatinate. The Princess died 
in England in 1662, leaving behind her a name, long 
revered by the nation as that of a martyr in the cause of 
the religion to which they were so firmly attached. 

Caroline of Brandenburg-Anspach, wife of George II., 
is another ancestress of the Queen who can never be 
passed over or forgotten in the history of the dynasty. 
Born in 1683, she lost her father at an early age. The 
greater part of her childhood was passed at Dresden at 
the gay court of the Elector of Saxony, who had become 
the second husband of her mother. In 1696 another 
change in her life occurred. Left an orphan by her moth- 
er's death, she remained for some years with her guard- 
ian, Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, afterwards King 
of Prussia, and his wife, Sophia Charlotte, daughter of 
the Electress Sophia of Hanover. Under the care oi 
this highly gifted woman, the character of the young 
princess was molded. Firm in her adhesion to the Prot- 
estant religion, she refused the splendor of an alliance 
with the future Emperor Charles VI., because such & 
union would have necessitated a change of faith. In her 
resistance to the proposals made to her, she was en* 
couraged by the old Electress, and by Leibnitz, who was 
thus intimately connected with three generations of the 
house, which has played so important a part in English 
history. By his means, and with the aid of the old 
Electress Sophia, her marriage with the hereditary 
Prince of Hanover was accomplished. Of the story of 
her after life it is not necessary here to speak. Of her 
character, and especially of her devotion and self-sacri- 
fice, it is difficult to say too much. Literature and the arts 



found in her a discriminating patron. The excellence 
of her own artistic taste is proved by the fact that she 
decorated her sitting-room at Kensington with the draw- 
ings by Holbein of the ladies and nobles of the Court of 
Henry VIII., which, with the equally priceless volume 
of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, had been recently 
discovered in a cupboard of the Palace, and with the 
miniature portraits by Cooper and others, which are still 
not the least valuable of the treasures of the Crown. Till 
her death she retained her beauty, and the marked type 
of her features is perpetuated in the great family resem- 
blance which is so noticeable in her descendants to the 
present day. 

Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III., and the 
grandmother of our Sovereign, was a devoted wife and 
mother, and strict in her ideas of duty. Though her 
features were irregular, her face was attractive from the 
brightness of her eyes, and the piquancy and animation 
of her expression. One inestimable boon she helped to 
confer on the British nation. At a period when laxity 
of morals was almost universally prevalent, she not only 
set a noble example of domestic virtue, but resolutely 
discountenanced vice in others. It was in no small de- 
gree owing to her influence that the Court of George 
III. became the purest in Europe. 

Of the Kings of England, the Queen's ancestors, it 
would be superfluous to give any history or account in 
the limited pages of this volume. 



CHAPTER TWO. 

BIRTH AND PARENTAGE OF THE QUEEN. 

It was on the 6th of November, 1817, that the whole 
country heard with dismay of the tragic death of the 
Princess Charlotte of Wales, wife of Prince Leopold of 
Saxe-Coburg, and of her newborn infant. With that 
event the hope of a direct heir to the Regent, afterwards 
George IV., disappeared, and the succession to the throne 
was left among his younger brothers. Of these the eld- 
est, Frederick, Duke of York, had been married more 
than sixteen years, and had no children. William, Duke 
of Clarence, the next in seniority, who succeeded his 
brother as King William IV., was married on the nth 
of July, 1818. His first child by his wife, Princess Ade- 
laide of Saxe-Meiningen, was born in 1819, two months 
before the Princess Victoria, and died on the day of her 
birth. One other child was born at the close of the next 
year, but, at the a^e of three months, she also died. Next 
to the Duke of Clarence came the Duke of Kent, the 
father of our QueeiT. 

Edward Augustus, the fourth son of George III. and 
Queen Charlotte, was born on the 2d of November, 1767, 
at Buckingham House. In the same house, at the time 
of the Prince's birth, Edward, Duke of York, brother 
of the King, was lying in state preparatory to his funeral 
the day following. From his deceased uncle, the infant 



10 

prince, who was christened on the 30th of the same 
month, received his first name. His early years were 
passed under the care and tuition of John Fisher, after- 
wards Canon of Windsor, and Bishop, successively, of 
Exeter and Salisbury. The influence of this exemplary 
Christian and distinguished scholar was apparent in the 
piety, and love of truth, which were marked features in 
the character of his pupil, whose fortitude and equa- 
nimity were severely tried in after life by injustice and 
misfortune. Destined for the career of a soldier, he was 
sent, at the age of eighteen, to Luneberg, in Hanover, 
to study for his profession under a military governor. 
An annuity of f 6,000 had been provided for his main- 
tenance, but his tutor, who thought of nothing except 
drill and avarice, treated his charge with extreme severity 
and parsimony. Not content with restricting his pocket- 
money to a weekly pittance, he intercepted the Prince's 
letters to his parents, and misrepresented his conduct by 
dscribing him as recklessly extravagant. As the Prince 
afterwards said : " Much of the estrangement between 
my royal parent and myself, much of the sorrow of my 
after life, may be ascribed to that most uncalled-for so- 
journ in the Electorate." There is no doubt that the ill- 
judged and severe treatment of his governor was the 
primary cause of the serious financial embarrassments 
which trouble the Prince throughout the whole of his 
life. 

In May, 1786, the Prince was made a Colonel in the 
A.rmy, and, shortly after, a Knight of the Garter. In the 
7ear following he was removed to Geneva. Thence, in 
June 1790, he returned to England, without permission 
from the King, hoping that, in a personal interview with 
his father, he might so state his grievances as to obtain 



11 

some immediate relief from the burdens which pressed 
upon him. The King, however, was unplacable; he re- 
fused to see his son, ordered him to leave in a few days 
for Gibraltar, and only admitted him to his presence for 
a few minutes before his departure. But the Prince's 
visit was not entirely fruitless; at last he was free from 
his harsh governor, and his exile was alleviated by his 
appointment to the Colonelcy of the 7th Royal Fusiliers, 
then forming part of the garrison. On his conduct in 
this position many unfavorable criticisms have been 
passed. The strict ideas of military duty which had been 
instilled into him in Germany made him a stern dis- 
ciplinarian, at a time when the utmost laxity prevailed 
among the garrison of the Rock. To the Prince's credit 
it should be added that he demanded from his sub- 
ordinates no more than he practised himself. As in the 
discharge of public duties he set an example of care and 
diligence, so in private life he was a pattern of regularity 
and temperance. The opinion entertained of him by his 
own regiment may be learned from its privately printed 
records, where it is said: ."At that time the discipline 
of the Army was greatly relaxed. The military code, 
it is true, allowed brutal severity to be used in cor- 
recting the private soldiers, but brutal severity has never 
been the means of raising and maintaining a brave and 
efficient army, unless it is only resorted to in the last 
extremity by men who performed their duty with rigid 
exactness, and were in all respects a pattern for those 
whom they commanded. So much, however, could not 
then be said of all ranks in the British Army. Great 
slackness existed, and when the young Duke of Kent 
attempted to exact a proper and honorable perform- 
ance of his duty from each of his subordinates, his meas- 



12 

ures were received with great and ill-concealed disgust." 
" His notions of discipline," says the Prince's biographer, 
" rendered him unpopular with the men. Representa- 
tions relative to the dissatisfaction prevalent in the Fusi- 
liers were made at home, and the result was that His 
Royal Highness was ordered to embark with his Regi- 
ment for America." His enemies, and the Prince had 
many on the Rock, not all of the lowest order, were 
striving to create discord between him and his Fusiliers. 
But gradually the advantages of strictness in discipline 
were recognized, and before the regiment left Gibraltar 
the merits of the Colonel were appreciated, not only by 
th 7th, but by the rest of the garrison. 

During 1792 and 1793 the Duke remained at Quebec 
in command of his regiment. In October of the latter 
year he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and 
in December, at his own request, he received an appoint- 
ment under Sir Charles Grey, who was then engaged 
in the reduction of the French West India Islands. The 
Prince took part in the capture of Martinique and Santa 
Lucia, for which service he was mentioned in dispatches, 
and received the thanks of Parliament. After the suc- 
cessful termination of the expedition he rejoined his regi- 
ment in Canada; but, in 1798, he was obliged to leave the 
country on account of ill-health. 

In 1799 His Royal Highness was created Duke of 
Kent and Strathern, and Earl of Dublin. In the same 
year he was gazetted Commander-in-Chief of the Forces 
in North America; but, owing to the state of his health, 
he was able to remain there little more than a year. In 
1802 he was again dispatched to Gibraltar, on this occa- 
sion as Governor, with express instructions from the 
Commander-in-Chief, his brother, the Duke of York, 



13 



to restore the discipline of that demoralized garrison. 
The means which the Duke of Kent considered it neces- 
sary to take, at great pecuniary loss to himself, for the 
accomplishment of this purpose, caused a mutiny among 
the troops, which was at last quelled, and discipline re- 
stored. The Duke, however, was recalled, and after his 
departure the garrison relapsed into its former condi- 
tion. In 1805 the Duke was made a Field-Marshal. He 
was at this time living in comparative retirement near 
Ealing, taking, however, an active interest in move- 
ments of piety and philanthropy. But in 181 5 he was 
compelled, by the state of his affairs, and the difficulty 
which he experienced in obtaining any assistance towards 
the relief of his embarrassments, to leave England, in 
order that, on the Continent, he might live in the sim- 
plest possible manner. It was while he was abroad that 
he first saw the widowed Princess of Leiningen, whom 
he afterwards married. 

The Princess Victoria Mary Louisa, who thus became 
Duchess of Kent, was born at Coburg on the 17th of 
August, 1786. She was the fourth daughter of Francis 
Frederick Antony, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield, and 
his wife, Augusta, daughter of Henry, Count of Reuss- 
Ebersdorf. When seventeen years of age, she had mar- 
ried Ernest Charles, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen, 
her senior by more than twenty years, and a widower! 
whose first wife, the Princess Sophie Henriette, had also 
been of the same house of Reuss-Ebersdorf. After- 
eleven years of married life, she was left a widow, with 
two children— a son, Prince Charles, who succeeded his 
father in 1814, and a daughter, Princess Feodore, the be- 
loved half-sister and companion of the girlhood of Queen 
Victoria. The Princess of Leiningen cordially returned 



14 

the affection with which she had inspired the Duke of 
Kent, and when it was known that sanction had been 
given to the Duke's marriage with the sister of Prince 
Leopold, the intelligence was received everywhere with 
the greatest satisfaction. It was a union which had been 
most ardently desired by the Princess Charlotte, who 
was deeply attached to her uncle. But, owing to the 
delays which were occasioned by the position of the Prin- 
cess of Leiningen as guardian of her two fatherless chil- 
dren, the Princess Charlotte's sudden death occurred be- 
fore the alliance was concluded. The House of Com- 
mons voted a grant of £6,000 a year, and on the 29th of 
May, 1 81 8, the marriage of the Duke of Kent and the 
Princess of Leiningen was celebrated at Coburg. The 
ceremony was repeated on the nth of June, at Kew, 
and at the same time and place the Duke of Clarence 
was married to the Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. 
For the first few months of their married life, the Duke 
and Duchess of Kent resided at Amorbach, one of the 
seats of the Prince of Leiningen. Early in the following 
Spring, when the birth of their child was expected, both 
the Duke and Duchess were desirous that the infant 
should first see the light on English soil, and made their 
way to Kensington. There, on the 24th of May, 1819, 
the Princess, the future Queen and Empress, was born 
at a quarter past four in the morning. Though the 
Duchess quickly recovered her health, yet, towards the 
close of the year, she was advised to try a climate some- 
what milder than that of Kensington, as the Winter had 
set in with such unusual severity that thick ice was every- 
where to be seen as early as November. A move was 
therefore made to Devonshire, where Woolbrook Cot- 
tage, at Sidmouth, was taken as a Winter residence. 



15 

Here the Duke passed the short remainder of his life, 
overshadowed to some extent by the clouds of financial 
trouble which had always so terribly oppressed him, but 
brightened by the affection and companionship of his 
wife, and of his child, to whom he was devotedly at- 
tached. His end was very sudden; he had walked out 
through the snow with Colonel Conroy, but on his re- 
turn neglected to change his wet clothes. This impru- 
dence, following on a cold which he had caught at Salis- 
bury when visiting the Cathedral, brought on inflamma- 
tion of the lungs. The fever ran high, and, according to 
the barbaric custom of the age, he was repeatedly bled. 
He never regained strength, and died on the 23d of Jan- 
uary, 1820. During his illness, he was nursed indefatiga- 
bly by the Duchess, who never left him; indeed, for five 
nights and days she had never undressed. The only con- 
solation she had besides her infant daughter was the 
presence of her loved brother, Prince Leopold, who, on 
hearing of the dangerous condition of the Duke, hastened 
at once to her side. The Duke's sister, Princess Augusta, 
writes to an old friend immediately after the Duke's 
death: "Think, my dearest Lady Harcourt, that yester- 
day five weeks he was here on his way to Sidmouth; so 
happy with his excellent, good wife, and his lovely child; 
and within so short a time was perfectly well — ill — and no 
more! . . . God knows what is for the best, and I 
hope I bow with submission to this very severe trial; 
but when I think of his poor, miserable wife, and his 
innocent, fatherless child, it really breaks my heart. She 
has conducted herself like an angel, and I am thankful 
dearest Leopold was with her. . . . She quite adored 
poor Edward, and they were truly blessed in each other; 
but what an irreparable loss he must be to her!" 



16 

The Duke of Kent was also a loss to the whole nation. 
Not a favorite with his own family, he was the most pop- 
ular of his brothers outside the Royal circle. His opin- 
ions were enlightened, and, though considered heterodox 
at the time, they now represent the views of most culti- 
vated men. In his private life he was remarkable for his 
generosity to all from whom he had received attention 
or service. Warmly interested in the management of 
almost every charitable institution of his time, he never 
failed to forward their interests by presiding at their 
meetings if time would permit him to do so. The practi- 
cal interest he took in education is proved by the fact 
that he was the first commander of a regiment to estab- 
lish a regimental school. Perhaps the best eulogy cast 
upon him wah that of Lord Brougham, who said, in the 
House of Lords, on the question of a grant to him on his 
marriage, that he "would venture to say that no man had 
set a brighter example of public virtue, no man had more 
beneficially exerted himself in his. high station to benefit 
every institution with which the best interests of the 
country, and the protection and education of the poor 
were connected, than His Royal Highness the Duke of 
Kent." 

The Duke was buried in the royal vault at Windsor, 
under the Tomb-house, now the Albert Memorial Chapel. 
A handsome tomb of alabaster, with a recumbent effigy, 
has also been erected by the Queen to her father's mem- 
ory in the south aisle of the nave of St. George's Chapel. 

A week had not elapsed since the leath of the Duke 
before his father, George III., also passed away. The 
Princess Augusta again writes from Windsor Castle on 
the 4th of February: "In all my sorrow I cannot yet 
bear to think of that good, excellent woman, the Duchess 



17 

of Kent, and all her trials; they are really most grievous. 
She is the most pious, good, resigned creature it is possi- 
ble to describe. She has written to me once; and I re- 
ceived the letter from her and one from Adelaide, written 
together from Kensington. Dearest William is so good- 
hearted, that he has desired Adelaide to go to Kensing- 
ton every day, as she is a comfort to the poor widow, 
and her sweet, gentle mind is of great use to the Duchess 
of Kent. It is a great delight to me to think they can 
read the same prayers, and talk the same mother tongue 
together, it makes them such real friends and comforts 
to each other. . . ." 

This friendship with the Duchess of Clarence was real 
and lasting. It helped materially to soften the sorrows 
of the early days of the Duchess's widowhood, when, 
for the sake of her child, she resolved to remain perma- 
nently in the land of her adoption. After she lost her 
second Princess, the future Queen Adelaide wrote to the 
Duchess of Kent: " My children are dead; but yours 
lives, and she is mine too," and throughout the remainder 
of her life she treated her niece with an affection which 
was truly maternal. In addition to her other troubles, 
the royal widow was left in very straitened circumstances, 
and though for some time helped by the generosity of 
her brother, it was many years before any adequate pro- 
vision was made for her maintenance. 

Particular attention has been drawn in the previous 
chapter to the female members of the ancestry of the 
Queen in the male line. Here it is equally important to 
mention the great influence which the Queen's grand- 
mother in the female line had upon her character and 
her life. She was, as is mentioned above, a Princess of 
the ancient house of Reuss-Ebersdorf. Her mother was 



18 

of the house of Erbach-Schoenberg, which family has 
again, in recent years, been allied to the royal family 
of Great Britain by the marriage of the Count of Erbach- 
Schoenberg with the sister of the lamented Prince Henry 
of Battenberg. The Duchess of Coburg is described by 
her third and favorite son, the King of the Belgians, as 
being in every way "a most distinguished person," and 
the Queen, speaking of her many years later, thus records 
her recollections : " The Queen remembers her dear 
grandmother perfectly well. She was a most remarkable 
woman, with a most powerful, energetic, almost mas- 
culine mind, accompanied with great tenderness of heart 
and extreme love for nature. The Prince (Consort) told 
the Queen that she had wished earnestly that he should 
marry the Queen, and as she died when her grandchil- 
dren (the Prince and Queen) were only twelve years old, 
she could have little guessed what a blessing she was 
preparing, not only for this country, hut for the world 
at large. She was adored by her children, particularly by 
her sons; King Leopold being her great favorite. She 
had fine and most expressive blue eyes, with the marked 
features and long nose inherited by most of her children 
and grandchildren." This note by the Queen, with several 
letters of this gifted lady, is printed in General Grey's 
" Early Years of the Prince Consort." The Dowager 
Duchess of Coburg died in 1831. The Queen believes 
that whatever powers of mind and talents she may pos- 
sess are principally inherited from her maternal grand- 
mother, of whom a characteristic portrait, from a minia- 
ture, is given opposite page 14. 

The sisters of the Duchess of Kent, and aunts to the 
Queen, were Spohia, Antoinette, and Julie. Sophia, the 
eldest, after refusing many eligible proposals of marriage 



19 

from suitors of her own rank, married in 1804 Count 
Mensdorff-Pouilly, whose acquaintance she had made 
when visiting her sister, Antoinette, at Fantaisie, near 
Baireuth, at that time the resort of many Bavarian fam- 
ilies, as well as of French emigrants. The second daugh- 
ter of the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, Antoinette, married 
in 1798 Duke Alexander of Wurtemberg, whose sister, 
the Empress of Russia, was mother to the Emperors 
Alexander and Nicholas. The Duke Alexander held a 
very influential position in that country, where he re- 
sided many years. His wife is described by her brother, 
King Leopold, as clever, amiable, and possessed of a 
great esprit de conduite. They had two sons, both of 
whom served with distinction in the Russian Army; the 
elder married Princess Marie of Orleans, daughter of 
Louis Philippe, and their son, Duke Philip, is heir-pre- 
sumptive to the throne of Wurtemberg. The third sis- 
ter, Julie, was married at fifteen to the Grand Duke Con- 
stantine of Russia. The marriage was not happy, and 
in 1802 she left Russia, fixing her residence finally at 
Elfenau, near Berne, in Switzerland, where she was vis- 
ited in 1837 by her nephew, Prince Albert, a visit re- 
peated on more than one occasion afterwards. 



CHAPTER THREE. 

THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS (1819-1837). 

Conformably with the custom of the Church of Eng- 
land, the infant daughter of the Duke and Duchess had, 
as soon as possible after her birth, been baptized at 
Kensington Palace; the rite being administered by the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, who was assisted by the 
Bishop of London. The Prince Regent stood as spon- 
sor, with the Duke of York, who represented the Em- 
peror of Russia. The godmothers were the Duchess 
Dowager of Coburg, the maternal grandmother of the 
Princess, represented by the Duchess of Gloucester; and 
the Queen of Wurtemberg, Princess Royal of England, 
who was represented by her sister, the Princess Augusta. 
The names given were Alexandrina Victoria, the first 
after the Emperor of Russia, the second after her mother. 
For a short time the pet name of " Drina " was used, 
but later it was supeseded by the universally honored 
name of Victoria. One of the Queen's earliest signa- 
tures, in capital letters and in pencil, written by her when 
four years old, and using this name only, is in the British 
Museum. 

Immediately after her father's death she was brought 
back, with her widowed mother, by Prince Leopold, from 
Sidmouth to Kensington, which was to be her future 
home till, by the death of her uncle, William IV., she 



21 

succeeded to the throne. The Duchess of Kent in after 
years, in reply to an address of congratulation on the 
attainment of her majority by her daughter, has thus 
described the motives of her conduct in her new position: 
" I pass over the earlier part of my connection with this 
country. I will merely observe, that my late regretted 
consort's circumstances and my duties obliged us to re- 
side in Germany; but the Duke of Kent, at much incon- 
venience, and I, at great personal risk, returned to Eng- 
land, that our child should be ' born and bred a Briton.' 
In a few months afterwards my infant and myself were 
awfully deprived of father and husband. We stood alone 
— almost friendless and alone in this country; I could 
not even speak the language of it. I did not hesitate 
how to act. I gave up my home, my kindred, my duties 
(the Regency of Leiningen), to devote myself to that 
duty which was to be the whole object of my future life. 
I was supported in the execution of my duties by the 
country. It placed its trust in me, and the Regency Bill 
gave me its last act of confidence. I have, in times of 
great difficulty, avoided all connection with any party 
in the State; but, if I have done so, I have never ceased 
to impress on my daughter her duties, so as to gain, by 
her conduct, the respect and affection of the people. This, 
I have taught her, should be her first earthly duty as a 
Constitutional Sovereign." No words could better con- 
vey a sense of the principles which guided the mother 
in the education of her child, and of the manner in which, 
not always without opposition, she fulfilled the task she 
had set before herself to perform. 

For the first few years of her life at Kensington, then 
really a suburb — for London itself ended at Tyburn Gate 
and at Hyde Park Corner — the Duchess watched most 



22 

carefully over the health and physical development of 
her daughter. Whenever the weather permitted the 
Princess was to be seen in the gardens, generally accom- 
panied by her half-sister, the Princess Feodore, and in 
charge of her nurse, Mrs. Brock, whom she called her 
" dear, dear Bobby." Many stories are related of the 
manner in which the child would recognize any ladies 
of the neighborhood who happened to meet the royal 
party ; but most of these, if they ever had any small foun- 
dation in fact, have been overlaid with exaggeration and 
the most improbable details. One instance of the man- 
ner in which what must have been a very trifling incident 
has grown in the telling, is the story related by an old 
soldier named Maloney, who claimed the honor of having 
saved his sovereign's life in her infancy. The pony 
drawing the chair in which the Princess took her morn- 
ing ride, frightened by a dog, swerved, and overturned 
the chair on the edge of the pathway. The child would 
have fallen under the vehicle, when Maloney seized her 
in her fall, and was able to restore her unhurt to the 
lady attendant. The following day he received from the 
Duchess her thanks, with a guinea. The Queen has no 
recollection of this incident, and is sure she never was 
upset, or in any danger of being thrown out. In 1878 
the circumstance was brought up again, and some as- 
sistance was given to the old man, who was in distress, 
though no proof of his claim could be discovered. The 
Queen's earliest recollection is that of crawling on the 
floor on an old yellow carpet at Kensington Palace, and 
playing with the badge of the Garter belonging to Bishop 
Fisher, who, as Bishop of Salisbury, was then Chancel- 
lor of the Order, and, having been tutor to her father, 
took a deep and affectionate interest in the welfare of 



23 

the Duke's only child. Mr. Wilberforce, who was then 
living at Kensington Gore, describes to Hannah More a 
visit which he paid to the Duchess in July, 1820: " In 
consequence of a very civil letter from the Duchess of 
Kent, I waited on her this morning. She received me, 
with her fine, animated child on the floor by her side, 
with its playthings, of which I soon became one. She 
was very civil, but as she did not sit down, I did not think 
it right to stay above a quarter of an hour." 

During these early years, and before a regular course 
of studies had been attempted, the family life at the Pal- 
ace was simple and regular. Breakfast was served in 
Summer at eight o'clock, the Princess Victoria having 
her bread and milk and fruit on a little table by her 
mother's side. After breakfast the Princess Feodore 
studied with her governess, Miss Lehzen, and the Prin- 
cess Victoria went out for a walk or drive. It has been 
repeatedly said that at this time she was instructed by 
her mother; but this is not the case, as the Duchess never 
gave her daughter any lessons. At two there was a plain 
dinner, when the Duchess had her luncheon. In the 
afternoon was the usual walk or drive. At the time of 
her mother's dinner the Princess had her supper laid at 
her side. At nine she was accustomed to retire to her 
bed, which was placed close to her mother's. 

It has been said that on the Princess's fourth birth- 
day her uncle, King George, presented her with a splen- 
did gift of a minature of himself set in diamonds. This 
is not the fact; at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Park, in 
1827, the King presented the Princess with a badge, 
worn by the Royal Family, which is still preserved. An- 
other tradition belonging to the same period runs that 
the King issued invitations for a State dinner, and sig- 



24 

nified his wish that her infant daughter should accom- 
pany the Duchess, and that the Princess was accord- 
ingly presented to the assembly before the banquet. This 
took place at the Carlton House, but the Princess was 
present only for a moment to see the King and the Royal 
Family. 

It was not till the Princess had entered her fifth year, 
that she began to receive any regular instruction. On 
the recommendation of the Rev. Thomas Russell, Vicar 
of Kensington, the Rev. George Davys was engaged to 
give elementary lessons. In this determination not to 
force her daughter's mind, the Duchess of Kent acted 
on the counsel of her mother, who had advised her " not 
to tease her little puss with learning while she was so 
young." The advice was justified by results, for the Prin- 
cess made rapid progress. In this year, 1824, the Duch- 
ess of Saxe-Coburg came over to England to visit her 
son, Prince Leopold, and the united family spent that 
Autumn at Claremont. Then, and for years afterwards, 
these visits to her loved uncle were some of the brightest 
remembrances of the Queen, who has written, " These 
were the happiest days of the Queen's childhood." Years 
afterwards, in 1842, when staying at Claremont with her 
husband and eldest child, the Queen wrote to her uncle 
Leopold at Brussels : " This place brings back recollec- 
tions of the happiest days of my otherwise dull child- 
hood — days when I experienced such kindness from you, 
dearest uncle; Victoria plays with my old bricks, and I 
see her running and jumping in the flower garden, as 
old (though I feel still little) Victoria of former days used 
to do." 

About the same time, Miss Lehzen, the daughter of 
a Hanoverian clergyman, who had come over to England 



25 

in charge of the Princess Feodore, was appointed gov- 
erness to the Princess. She was her constant guide and 
companion and devotedly attached to her young charge, 
by whom the feeling was cordially returned. Her great 
influence was exercised with tact and judgment, and 
the bond of union between teacher and pupil was only 
severed by death. In recognition of her distinguished 
merit, Miss Lehzen was created a Baroness of Hanover 
by George IV. After the accession of her pupil to the 
throne, the Baroness remained with the Queen till her 
marriage. Two years later, she retired to Germany, and 
died, much regretted, in 1870. 

In 1826, when the Princess was seven years old, she 
received, for the first time, an invitation from the King 
to accompany the Duchess of Kent on a visit to him at 
Windsor. His Majesty was then living in the Royal 
Lodge in the Park. As there was no accommodation 
for visitors in the Lodge, the Duchess and the Princess 
stayed at Cumberland Lodge, close at hand, where they 
remained for three days. The King was much pleased 
with his niece, and with the affection she exhibited 
towards himself. Before she left, he gave her the badge 
worn by members of the Royal Family and promised an \ 
early renewal of her visit to him — a promise afterwards 
fulfilled. The Princess thus for the first time had the 
opportunity of seeing the stately castle, which then, after 
a century's neglect, was being restored as a fitting abode 
for the Sovereign, and has for sixty years been her chief 
home of state. 

One day, during her first visit to the Royal Lodge, the 
King entered the drawing-room, holding his niece by the 
hand. The band was playing in the adjoining conserva- 
tory. "Now, Victoria," said His Majesty, "the band is 



26 

in the next room, and shall play any tune you please. 
What shall it be?" "Oh, Uncle King," quickly replied 
the Princess, "I should like 'God Save the King.' " An- 
other time, His Majesty asked her what she had enjoyed 
most during her stay in Windsor. "The drive I took 
with you, Uncle King," was the answer, the King having 
himself driven her in his pony phaeton, in company with 
the Duchess of Gloucester. 

The Earl of Albemarle, who was in attendance on the 
Duke of Sussex at Kensington, thus describes in his 
recollections the appearance of the Princess at this time: 
"One of my occupations on a morning, while waiting 
for the Duke, was to watch from the window the move- 
ments of a bright, pretty little girl, seven years of age. 
She was in the habit of watering the plants immediately 
under the window. It was amusing to see how impar- 
tially she divided the contents of the watering-pot be- 
tween the flowers and her own little feet. Pier simple 
but becoming dress contrasted favorably with the gor- 
geous apparel now worn by the little damsels of .the 
rising generation — a large straw hat and a suit of white 
cotton; a colored fichu round the neck was the only 
ornament she wore." 

The education of Pier Royal Highness was now con- 
ducted on a regular system. Besides the instruction she 
received from Miss Lehzen and the Rev. George Davys, 
Mr. Steward, the writing master of Westminster School, 
was engaged to teach writing and arithmetic; Mr. J. B. 
Sale, who had been in the choir of the Chapel Royal, 
came to assist in the singing lessons, which were after- 
wards given by the famous Lablache. Lessons in danc- 
ing were given by Madame Bourdin, to whose teaching 
may be due in some measure the grace of gesture and 



27 

dignity of bearing which has always distinguished Her 
Majesty. Drawing was intrusted to Mr. Westall, who 
had been a Royal Academician since 1794, and was now 
of considerable age; he carefully trained the great natu- 
ral gifts of his pupil, who early showed a talent which, 
had there been sufficient time for its exercise in after 
years, would have placed its possessor in the first rank 
among amateur artists. The fac-simile of a drawing by 
the Princess is given at the end of this chapter; it is a 
copy from a design by her master, and is also interesting 
as being the last birthday present given by his niece to 
George IV.; on the back of it is written, in the King's 
hand, "Drawn by the Princess Victoria, and given to me j 
by her, August 12th, 1829." The drawing is also dated 
and signed by the youthful artist. 

At the time these various accomplishments were being 
taught, the Princess was well grounded in English, and 
knew something of French, which she studied under M. 
Grandineau. German was not allowed to be spoken; 
English was always insisted upon, though a know- 
ledge of the German language was imparted by M. 
Barez. The lessons, however, which were the most en- 
joyed were those in riding, which has always been since 
one of the Queen's greatest pleasures. 

In January, 1827, at the Duchess of Rutland's house 
in Arlington Street, the Duke of York died childless, 
bringing the Princess Victoria one step nearer to the 
throne. The stories which have been printed of the 
great attachment between uncle and niece, and of the 
constant visits paid to him by the Princess, arc without 
foundation, as, in fact, the Queen never visited him till 
the last months of his life, when he was living at a house 
in King's Road, belonging to Mr. Greenwood, where 



28 

the Duke had " Punch and Judy ' to amuse the child. 
In the year following, the Princess Feodore, who had 
been her half-sister's constant companion, married 
Prince Hohenlohe-Langenburg. This parting was the 
greatest sorrow the Princess Victoria had then known, 
as she missed her society not only at Kensington, but 
even more in those visits to Ramsgate, Tunbridge Wells, 
and other watering-places, which the Duchess was ac- 
customed to pay with her family in the Summer months. 
The death of the Duke of York, and the remote proba- 
bility of the Duke and Duchess of Clarence having other 
offspring, drew increasing attention to the movements 
of the Duchess of Kent and her daughter. Many stories 
are current of the behavior and appearance of the young 
Princess. The simplicity of her tastes was particularly 
noticed and admired. It was this simplicity of living 
and careful training in home life which endeared not 
only the Princess but her mother also to the hearts of 
the whole nation. Leigh Hunt and Charles Knight have 
both recorded the pleasing impression made upon them 
by the young Princess. The latter, in his " Passages 
of a Working Life," says: "I delighted to walk in 
Kensington Gardens. As I passed along the broad cen- 
tral walk I saw a group on the lawn before the Palace. 
. . . The Duchess of Kent and her daughter, whose 
years then numbered nine, are breakfasting in the open 
air. . . . What a beautiful characteristic it seemed 
to me of the training of this royal girl, that she should 
not have been taught to shrink from the public eye; 
that she should not have been burdened with a prema- 
ture conception of her probable high destiny; that she 
should enjoy the freedom and simplicity of a child's 
nature ; that she should not be restrained when she starts 



29 

up from the breakfast-table and runs to gather a flower 
in the adjoining pasture; that her merry laugh should 
be as fearless as the notes of the thrush in the groves 
around her. I passed on and blessed her; and I thank 
God that I have lived to see the golden fruits of such a 
training." 

Another and more celebrated writer, Sir Walter Scott, 
has written in his diary of May 19th, 1828: " Dined with 
the Duchess of Kent. Was very kindly received by 
Prince Leopold, and presented to the little Princess Vic- 
toria, the heir-apparent to the Crown, as things now 
stand. . . . This little lady is educated with much 
care, and watched so closely that no busy maid has a 
moment to whisper, ' You are heir of England.' I sus- 
pect, if we could dissect the little heart, we should find 
some pigeon or other bird of the air had carried the 
matter." Sir Walter's surmise, as will be seen later, was 
not altogether without foundation. 

On the 28th of May, 1829, when the Princess was just 
ten years old, she made her first acquaintance with the 
ceremony of a court. This was at a juvenile ball, given 
by the King to Donna Maria La Gloria, Queen of Portu- 
gal (a sovereign only a month older than herself). The 
same year the Princess saw, for the last time, her uncle, 
George IV. Her grandmother, the Dowager Duchess 
of Coburg, mentions this visit to Windsor in a letter to 
the Duchess of Kent. " I see by the English papers that 
' Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent went on Vir- 
ginia Water with His Majesty.' The little monkey must 
have pleased and amused him, she is such a pretty, clever 
child." 

This year the Summer was spent at Broadstairs, and, 
in returning to Kensington, a visit of two days was paid 



30 

to the Earl of Winchilsea, at his seat, Eastwell Park, 
near Ashford. 

The year 1830 was a momentous one in the life of the 
Princess. Her uncle George IV. died in June, and was 
succeeded by his brother William IV., this one life only 
now standing between her and the throne. The Prin- 
cess, according to one account, already knew something 
of the position in which she was placed before the death 
of George IV. It is, however, certain that in the latter 
part of the year the Princess was formally acquainted 
with her position. The Baroness Lehzen, writing to Her 
Majesty on the 16th of December, 1867, thus describes 
the manner in which the communication was made: " I 
ask your Majesty's leave to cite some remarkable words 
of your Majesty's when only twelve years old, while the 
Regency Bill was in progress. I then said to the Duch- 
ess of Kent, that now, for the first time, your Majesty 
ought to know your place in the succession. Her Royal 
Highness agreed with me, and I put the genealogical 
table into the historical book. When Mr. Davys was 
gone, the Princess Victoria opened, as usual, the book 
again, and, seeing the additional paper, said: ' I never 
saw that before.' ' It was not thought necessary that 
you should, Princess,' I answered. T see, I am nearer 
the throne than I thought.' ' So it is, madam,' I said. 
After some moments the Princess resumed: ' Now, 
many a child would boast, but they don't know the dif- 
ficulty. There is much splendor but there is more re- 
sponsibility.' The Princess, having lifted up the fore- 
finger of her right hand while she spoke, gave me that 
little hand, saying: ' I will be good. I understand now 
why you urged me so much to learn, even Latin. My 
aunts Augusta and Mary never did; but you told me 



31 

Latin is the foundation of English grammar, and of all 
the elegant expressions, and I learnt it as you wished 
it, but I understand all better now,' and the Princess 
gave me her hand, repeating, ' I will be good.' I then 
said: ' But your aunt Adelaide is still young, and may 
have children, and of course they would ascend the 
throne after their father, William IV., and not you, Prin- 
cess.' The Princess answered: 'And if it was so, I 
should be very glad, for I know by the love Aunt Ade- 
laide bears me, how fond she is of children.' " 

This letter, written more than five-and-thirty years 
after the event, can hardly be considered as strictly ac- 
curate. The Princess was only eleven when the Regency 
Bill was discussed. It was passed in December, 1830. 
The Queen says, moreover, that the knowledge of her 
probable succession came to her gradually and made her 
very unhappy ; nor does she feel sure that she made use of 
the expression, " I will be good." 

Ampler provision had by this time been made for the 
maintainance of a household more in keeping with the 
recognized position of the Princess. It was consequently 
possible for the Duchess of Kent and her daughter to 
combine the pleasure of Summer travel with the increase 
of knowledge derived from wider association with the 
people which were hereafter to come under the Princess' 
rule. This year, therefore, a more extended journey was 
made. On the way to Malvern, where they were to 
spend a couple of months, visits were paid to Blenheim, 
also to Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick, Kenilworth, and 
Birmingham. Here the principal manufactures were 
seen, attention being particularly paid to the glass-blow- 
ing and coining. From Malvern excursions were made 
to Madresfield, Eastnor, and other noblemen's seats, and 



32 

also to the cities of Hereford and Worcester. Return- 
ing from this pleasant sojourn in the west, both Bad- 
minton and Gloucester were visited, and the journey 
continued through Bath to Mr. Watson Taylor's, at East 
Stoke Park, where the acquaintance of Thomas Moore 
was made. In his diary we read: " The Duchess sang 
a duet or two with the Princess Victoria, and several 
very pretty German songs by herself. I also sang sev- 
eral songs with which Her Royal Highness was much 
pleased." The party thence passed over Salisbury Plain 
and visited Stonehenge on the way to Salisbury, where 
the young Princess was received with great enthusiasm, 
the horses being taken out of the carriage, which was 
drawn by the populace to the hotel. 

The next stay was at Portsmouth, where the Princess 
visited the Royal George yacht and the St. Vincent man- 
of-war, and took a long survey of the dockyard, in which 
she was keenly interested. 

The Regency Bill, just mentioned, was brought for- 
ward in the House of Lords by Lord Lyndhurst, in con- 
sequence of the reference made to the subject in the 
King's Speech from the Throne, on the 2d of Novem- 
ber. It was introduced on the 15th of the month by the 
Lord Chancellor, who said: "The first question which 
your Lordships will naturally ask is — whom we propose 
as the guardian of Her Royal Highness under the cir- 
cumstances inferred? I am sure, however, that the an- 
swer will at once suggest itself to every mind. It would 
be quite impossible that we should recommend any other 
individual for that high office than the illustrious Prin- 
cess, the mother of Her Royal Highness the Princess 
Victoria. The manner in which Her Royal Highness, 
the Duchess of Kent, has hitherto discharged her duty 



33 

in the education of her illustrious offspring — and I speak 
upon the subject, not from vague report, but from accu- 
rate information — gives us the best ground to hope most 
favorably of Her Royal Highness' future conduct. 
Looking at the past, it is evident we cannot find a better 
guardian for the time to come." The Bill was passed 
at the beginning of the next month. It provided that, 
in the event of a posthumous child of the Queen Ade- 
laide, Her Majesty should be guardian and regent dur- 
ing the minority of the infant. If that event should not 
occur, the Duchess of Kent was to be guardian and re- 
gent during the minority of her daughter, the Princess 
Victoria, the heiress presumptive. The provisions of 
the Bill were welcomed and indorsed by the approval of 
both Houses, and by the country at large. Every one 
rejoiced in the opportunity of offering so worthy a trib- 
ute of gratitude to the royal lady for the unwearied as- 
siduity and judgment she had displayed in the education 
of her daughter for the station to which it seemed now 
certain that she would eventually be called. It was on 
the occasion of the prorogation of this session by the 
King that the Princess Victoria was a witness of the 
state procession, in company with the Queen and the 
royal Princesses. The people cheered the Queen with 
much vigor, whereupon that lady graciously took her 
young niece by the hand, and, leading her to the front 
of the balcony, introduced her to her future loyal sub- 
jects. 

Soon after the King's accession, the Prime Minister, 
Earl Grey, proposed to the Duchess of Kent, by the 
King's desire, the appointment of a dignitary of the 
Church to superintend the education of the Princess, 
and suggested that the Bishop of Lincoln would be a 



34 

proper person to be intrusted with the duties of the 
office. The Duchess commissioned his Lordship to con- 
vey to the King her grateful thanks for the interest taken 
by him in the subject, and added that she perfectly co- 
incided with His Majesty's views, as regarded the pro- 
priety of the establishment of the Princess being headed 
by a dignitary of the Church; but as she felt most per- 
fect confidence in Mr. Davys, she thought there could 
be no difficulty in preferring him to an office of ecclesi- 
astical dignity. Mr. Davys was, in consequence, in Jan- 
uary, 1 83 1, preferred to the Deanery of Chester. 

Another important addition to the household of the 
Princess was made by the appointment of a State gov- 
erness, in the person of Charlotte Florentia, daughter of 
the Earl of Powis, and wife of Hugh, third Duke of 
Northumberland. Her Grace had no share in the teach- 
ing of her charge, but was always in attendance when 
the heiress-presumptive appeared in public or at Court. 

The Princess' first appearance at Court was at a Draw- 
ing Room held on the 24th of February, 1831, in honor 
of the birthday of Queen Adelaide. During the recep- 
tion she stood on the left of the Queen, between one of 
her royal aunts and the Duchess of Kent, dressed very 
simply in white, with a pearl necklace, and a diamond 
ornament in her hair. She much enjoyed the ceremony, 
and henceforward attended the Drawing Rooms twice 
in the year, not attending any of the State Balls or cere- 
monies in the evening till some years later. 

In August of this year the Duchess of Kent and the 
Princess went to the Isle of Wight, where they stayed 
for two months. The coronation of King William IV. 
was fixed for the 8th of September, and all preparations 
had been made for the attendance of the heiress-pre- 



35 

sumptive at the ceremony. The Duchess of Kent was 
expected at Claremont, and had appointed Lord Mor- 
peth to be the bearer of her coronet to the Abbey. The 
absence of the royal pair from the Coronation gave rise 
at the time to much comment and angry discussion. 
During her stay in the island, the Princess made a tout 
round its western part, visiting Ryde, Ventnor, Yar- 
mouth, and Newport, and returning home to pay a visit 
at Claremont to her uncle, King Leopold. He and the 
Duchess of Kent had, directly after this visit, to mourn 
the loss of their mother, the Duchess Dowager of Co- 
burg, who had watched with such anxious care and 
solicitude over the welfare of her children and grand- 
children, and had ardently desired, but never was des- 
tined, to see that union which afterwards, while it lasted, 
rendered the lives of two of them so blissful. 

In the Summer of 1832 a somewhat lengthy tour was 
taken by the Duchess of Kent and the Princess, who 
thus had an opportunity of seeing a great extent of her 
future kingdom, and making the personal acquaintance 
of many of the nobility and gentry, and gaining an in- 
sight into the manufactures and employments of the 
people. Starting in the beginning of August and sleep- 
ing at Oxford, they passed through Birmingham, Wol- 
verhampton, and Shrewsbury to Powis Castle, the early 
home of the Duchess of Northumberland. Hence the 
journey was made by Wynnstay, over the Menai Bridge, 
to the " Bulkeley Arms " at Beaumaris, which had been 
taken for a month. At the National Eisteddfod held 
here the Princess delighted the winners by presenting 
to them the prizes gained in the various competitions. 
An outbreak of cholera curtailed the stay at Beaumaris, 
whence the Duchess with her daughter moved to Plas 






Newydd, which had been kindly placed at their disposal 
by the Marquess of Anglesey. The fine air and abund- 
ance of exercise had a most beneficial effect upon the 
Princess' constitution. 

While staying at Plas Newydd, the Princess, on Satur- 
day, October 13th, laid the first stone of the boys' school. 
On the 15th the royal party left Plas Newydd, and the 
Princess notes in her diary: "I looked out of the car- 
riage window, that I might get a last look at the dear 
Emerald and her excellent crew." On the route to 
Eaton Hall, Bangor and Conway were passed, and at 
Kenmel Park, the seat of Lord Dinorben, the royal party 
stopped to meet the Duke of Sussex at luncheon. Pass- 
ing through Holywell, they arrived at Eaton, escorted by 
the Yeomanry, under Lord Grosvenor. Escorts on the 
first part of the journey had been furnished by the Den- 
bighshire and Flintshire Yeomanry. On the 17th of 
October a visit was made to Chester, where the visitors 
were received with much cheering by the great crowds 
which assembled from all the country round. The new 
bridge over the Dee was formallly opened, and received 
the name of "Victoria." From Eaton, again escorted by 
Lord Grosvenor and Lord Robert Grosvenor, at the 
head of their Yeomanry, the journey lay through Buxton 
to Chatsworth, where they were received by the Duke of 
Devonshire. On the next day the Princess Victoria 
planted an oak, and the Duchess of Kent a chestnut, 
near the terrace. Excursions were made to Haddon 
and to Hardwicke, also through Matlock to Belper, 
where Mr. Strutt's cotton mills were inspected with much 
interest. Leaving Chatsworth on the 24th, the party 
proceeded to Lord Lichfield's house at Shugborough, 
lunching on the way at Alton Towers, the magnificent 



37 

seat of Lord Shrewsbury. Here the Staffordshire Yeo- 
manry was reviewed in the park. Next day Lichfield 
Cathedral was visited, and addresses received from 
the Mayor and Corporation. Passing through Stafford, 
which was gaily decorated with arches and flowers, the 
Duchess and the Princess, escorted by the Staffordshire 
Yeomanry, arrived at Pitchford, where they were to be 
the guests of Lord Liverpool. On one day during their 
visit there was a meet of the hounds, who ran into their 
fox under the carriage in which their Royal Highnesses 
were sitting; on another day Shrewsbury and its old 
school were visited. 

Leaving Pitchford and passing through Church Stret- 
ton, a stay was made at Oakley Court, the seat of Mr. 
Clive. Thence the journey lay through Ludlow. Here 
the mechanics formed a procession, Lord Clive and 
Mr. Clive walking on foot at their head. At Tenbury 
the Worcestershire Yeomanry relieved the Shropshire 
Yeomanry as escort, and attended the carriage, Lord 
Plymouth riding by the side, to Newell Grange, his 
lordship's seat. During the two days which were passed 
there, a visit was paid to Bromsgrove, where an address 
was presented to the Duchess, and the Princess received 
a present of a gold box full of small nails, as specimens 
of the manufacture of the town. 

The next day the homeward journey was continued 
through Stratford-on-Avon, Shipstone-on-Stour, and 
Woodstock, to Wytham Abbey, the seat of the Eart of 
Abingdon. The Duchess and the Princess passed one 
day in Oxford, where an address was presented by the 
Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr. Rowley, in the 
Theatre, and another by the Mayor and Corporation in 
the Town Hall; they were then escorted by Dean Gais- 



38 

ford through Christ Church, the Cathedral, and Library, 
and on to the Bodleian, where among other curiosities 
Princess Victoria took great interest in Queen Eliza- 
beth's Latin exercise book, which she used when thirteen 
years old, the Princess' own age. The royal visitors 
were entertained at luncheon by the Vice-Chancellor at 
his own College, University, and after visiting New Col- 
lege were conducted to the University Press, with which 
the Princess was greatly pleased ; here a copy of the Bible 
was presented to her, with a memorial of her visit printed 
on white satin. On the following day, the 9th of No- 
vember, the journey was resumed through High Wy- 
combe and Uxbridge to Kensington Palace. It is noted 
in the Princess' diary of the time, from which these 
particulars are taken by permission, that at all these visits 
the Princess dined at about seven o'clock with the Duch- 
ess of Kent and the guests. 

Soon after their return home an interesting interview 
took place with Captain Back, who was preparing to 
start early in the following year, on his chivalrous enter- 
prise to the Polar regions in search of Captain Ross. 
The Princess took extreme interest in the proposed 
route, which was explained by maps, and expressed much 
anxiety for the success of the expedition, and this interest 
in Polar exploration and its dangers has ever since been 
maintained. 

The early part of the year 1833 was passed at Ken- 
sington. There the course of study was kept up as be- 
fore, but the Princess now went out more in society and 
was seen more in public; twice during January she sat 
for her picture — to Wilkin and to Hayter. On the 25th 
of February, the birthday of Queen Adelaide, the Duch- 
ess of Kent and the Princess Victoria went to the 



39 

Qneen's Drawing Room. On this occasion they were 
attended by the Duchess of Northumberland, Lady 
Charlotte St. Maur, Lady Catherine Jenkinson, Lady 
Cust, Sir John and Lady Conroy, Baroness Lehzen, Sir 
Frederick Weterall and Sir George Anson. On Easter 
Sunday their Royal Highness went as usual to the Cha- 
pel Royal at St. James'; on other days services was at- 
tended at Kensington Palace. On the 24th of April the 
Duchess of Kent gave a dinner to the King; the Queen 
was not well enough to be present. The Dukes of Cum- 
berland and Gloucester were among the guests, who 
numbered about thirty. Princess Victoria, on this as on 
other similar occasions, did not dine, but went into the 
drawing-room before dinner, and again after dinner till 
the guests left. 

On the 24th of May, the Princess' fourteenth birth- 
day, she received a large number of presents, and in the 
evening with the Duchess of Kent, and attended by the 
Duchess of Northumberland and other members of her 
suite, went to a juvenile ball given at St. James' Palace 
by the King and Queen in honor of the day. The King 
led her Royal Highness into the ballroom, and again to 
supper, when the Princess sat between the King and 
Qneen and her health was drunk by the company. On 
the 28th the Princess again attended the Queen's Draw- 
ing Room, and records the impression made upon her by 
the beauty of Lady Seymour, Mrs. Norton, Lady Clanri- 
carde and others. In June the Duchess and Princess, 
with the Princes Alexander and Ernest of Wurtemberg 
and Prince Leiningen (all three staying on a visit at Ken- 
sington Palace), attended by the Duchess of Northum- 
berland and others, drove to Woolwich, where they 
visited the Arsenal, Barracks, and Storehouse, where 



40 

was preserved the carriage which had conveyed Napo- 
leon to his tomb. They witnessed also the firing of sev- 
eral pieces of artillery. 

At home the Princess' amusements were her pets, and 
her walks and drives, and during the Spring and Summer 
she much enjoyed riding. Another great enjoyment was 
the frequency of her visits to the opera, where she greatly 
enjoyed the performances of Duvernay and Taglioni, 
and listened with delight to Pasta, Malibran, Grisi, Tam- 
burini, Rubini, and other celebrated singers, as well as 
to Paganini's playing on the violin. 

During the Summer visits she paid both to Sion and 
Claremont, and on the 1st of July the Duchess of Kent 
and the Princess Victoria, accompanied by the Princes of 
Wurtemberg and Prince Leiningen and attended by Sir 
John and Lady Conroy and Baroness Lehzen, left Ken- 
sington en route for the Isle of Wight, passing by Esher, 
Guildford, and Petersfield to Portsmouth. The streets 
of the town were lined with troops, and Sir Colin Camp- 
bell rode beside the royal carriage. The Admiral, Sir 
Thomas Williams, took the royal party in his barge to 
the yacht Emerald, which was then towed by a steamer 
to Cowes, whence the party proceeded to Norris Castle, 
which was to be for the second time their abode. Sir 
John Conroy with his family lived at Osborne Lodge, an 
old thatched cottage Which afterwards came into the pos- 
session of the Queen and stood on the present site of 
Osborne Cottage. From Norris Castle the Duchess 
with the Princess made many excursions to Southamp- 
ton, Ryde, and the back of the Island; they attended di- 
vine service at the chuch at Whippingham, and were 
present at the consecration of the new church at East 
Cowes. On the 18th of July they went on board the 



41 

Emerald and were towed by the Messenger steamboat to 
Portsmouth. Here in the Admiral's barge they visited 
his fiagship the Victory, and saw the spot on the deck 
where Nelson fell and the cockpit where he died. "The 
whole ship," notes Princess Victoria, "is remarkable for 
its neatness and order." A contemporary account states 
that the Duchess and the Princess tasted some of the 
men's dinner at one of their mess-tables, and much liked 
the fare. 

On the 29th the Messenger again took the Emerald 
in tow for Weymouth, where the night was passed on 
shore at the Hotel. Addresses were presented and the 
town was illuminated in honor of the royal visitors, who 
next day left by road, escorted by the Dorsetshire Yeo- 
manry, for Melbury, the seat of Lord Ilchester, where a 
stay was made of two nights ; leaving again by the road, 
and, passing Beaminister and Bridport, they embarked 
on board the Emerald at Lyme Regis for Torquay, 
where they slept. During this journey the Duchess and 
Princess always slept on shore, as the accommodation 
on board was very scanty. On the afternoon of the 2nd, 
as the yacht was approaching Plymouth, the Admiral, 
Sir William Hargood, who had served under Nelson, 
and under the King, came on board. When entering the 
harbor, the little Emerald ran foul of the Active hulk, 
and those on board were in considerable danger. The 
mast was broken in two places by the collision, but did 
not fall, though many stories were current at the time of 
falling spars and rigging. No one was hurt, though 
every one was greatly frightened. The repair of the mast 
caused a delay of a couple of days. On the 3rd an ad- 
dress was presented by the Mayor and Corporation of 
Plymouth, and afterward Their Royal Highnesses and 



42 

suite were present at a review of the 89th, 22nd, and 84th 
Regiments. The Duchess of Kent made a speech, in 
which she referred to her residence in the Isle of Wight, 
which enabled her, in pursuance of her system of educa- 
tion for her daughter, to visit the great ports and arsenals 
so intimately associated with the naval power and glories 
of the country. The Princess Victoria then presented 
new colors to the 89th Regiment, giving them into the 
hands of Ensigns Miles and Egerton. After the troops 
had marched past, and luncheon had been served at the 
Admiral's house, a visit was paid to the San Josef, the 
flagship, which had been taken by Nelson from the 
Spaniards at St. Vincent, a fine vessel of 120 guns, after 
which the Caledonia, 120 and the Revenge, 74, were in- 
spected. On Sunday the Duchess and Princess attended 
morning services in the Dockyard Chapel, and in the 
afternoon rowed across to Mount Edgecumbe. Next 
day, on board the Forte frigate, Commander Pell, they 
sailed to the Eddystone Lighthouse. After lunch on 
board the sailors danced a hornpipe, and the royal party 
danced a quadrille and a country dance. The Princess 
danced first with Lieutenant Baker, and afterward with 
Captain Thiringham. They afterward landed on the 
Breakwater, whence they rowed to Mount Wise, and 
drove home. On Tuesday, the 6th, they re-embarked on 
the Emerald, the repairs to which had been completed, 
and, accompanied as far as the Sound by the Admiral 
and his captains, were again towed as far as Dartmouth, 
where they landede and drove to Torquay in the carriage 
of Mrs. Seale, as there were no post-horses to be had. 
They were expected to arrive by sea, and the change of 
plan caused some disappointment; however, a procession 
was formed of young girls with flowers, a little girl in 



43 

the middle, the daughter of a sailor named Pepperill, car- 
rying a crown. Leaving Torquay early next morning, 
and passing through Teignmouth and Dawlish, Exeter 
was reached, where the usual addresses were presented; 
thence through Honiton, Axminster, Bridport, Dorches- 
ter, and Wareham, Swanage was at last reached after a 
journey of 105 miles in thirteen and a half hours. Next 
morning the ladies of Swanage presented Princess Vic- 
toria with a straw bonnet, "the growth, make, and trade 
of the place," and later in the day, after returning on 
board the Emerald, the Duchess and Princess returned 
to Norris. 

In the early part of the year 1834 there was less gaiety. 
The principal State ceremony of the year was when in 
June the Princess went with the King and Queen and 
Duchess of Kent to the first performance of the Royal 
Musical Festival at Westminster Abbey. The perform- 
ance began with Handel's Coronation Anthem, and 
lasted for more than three hours. The Princess was 
everywhere greated with enthusiasm. Later, a house 
was taken at Tunbridge Wells for two months, and while 
there visits were paid to Lord Delaware at Buckhurst, 
and to Lord Camden at Bayham Abbey. Afterward a 
move was made to St. Leonards-on-Sea, where two very 
enjoyable months were passed. 

The early part of 1835 was spent as usual at Kensing- 
ton Palace. This year the Princess was present for the 
first time at Ascot Races, where she accompanied the 
King and Qneen in the State Procession. A description 
of the scene has been given by Mr. N. P. Willis: "In 
one of the intervals I walked under the King's Stand 
and I saw Her Majesty the Queen and the young Prin- 
cess Victoria very distinctly. They were leaning over a 



44 

railing listening to a ballad singer, and seeming as much 
interested and amused as any simple country folk could 
be. . . . The Princess is much better looking than 
any picture of her in the shops, and for the heir to such a 
crown as that of England, unnecessarily pretty and in- 
teresting. She will be sold, poor thing! bartered away 
by those dealers in Royal hearts, whose grand calcula- 
tions will not be much consolation to her if she happens 
to have a taste of her own." The American did not turn 
out a true prophet. 

On the 30th of July, 1835, the Princess having comple- 
ted her sixteenth year, the ceremony of Confirimation 
was performed at the Chapel Royal, St. James', by the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishop of 
London, in the presence of the King and Queen and sev- 
eral members of the Royal Family. The scene is de- 
scribed as very touching, and the Princess, after the ad- 
dress of the Archbishop was profoundly affected. On 
the following Sunday, Divine Service was performed in 
the Chapel at Kensington Palace, and then the Princess, 
accompanied by her mother, received for the first time 
the Holy Sacrament from the hands of the Archbishop 
of Canterbury and the Dean of Chester, her preceptor. 
Soon after this a visit of a month was paid to Avoyne 
House, Tunbridge Wells, where, as also later in the year 
at Ramsgate, the Princess took much interest in the 
schools and the children educated in them. In Septem- 
ber of this year another lengthy tour was made by Hat- 
field, Stamford, Grantham, Newark and Doncaster, to 
York, where their Royal Highnesses were for a week the 
guests of the Archbishop, Dr. Harcourt, at Bishops- 
thorpe, whence many visits were paid to the Minster. 
Leaving the Palace, a stay of three days was made with 



45 

Lord Harewood, when the journey was continued by 
Leeds, Wakefield and Barnsley, to Wentworth House, 
the seat of Lord Fitz- William. Here it was noticed that 
in the servants' hall the old style was retained and trench- 
ers were still used. Rotherham and Newark were passed 
on the way to Belvoir Castle, where the Royal Party 
were entertained by the Duke of Rutland for some days. 
From Belvoir they passed to Burghley; here they re- 
mained for two nights, on the second of which a grand 
ball was given in their honor by their host, the Marquess 
of Exeter. Greville in his Memoirs says of it: "Three 
hundred people at the ball, which was opened by Lord 
Exeter and the Princess, who, after dancing one dance, 
went to bed." 

They started early next morning by way of Peterbor- 
ough, Thorney, Wisbeach, and King's Lynn, to Holk- 
ham, where they were the guests of the Earl of Leicester. 
Lord Albermarle, who was there to meet them, mentions 
that they were late for dinner in consequence of the en- 
thusiastic loyalty of the people at Lynn, who insisted on 
drawing the carriage through the town. He also notes 
of the Royal visitors, "Both were affable. The youthful 
Princess in particular showed in her demeanor that win- 
ning courtesy with which millions of her subjects have 
since become familiar." Euston Hall, the seat of the 
Duke of Grafton, was the next house where a stay was 
made, from which the homeward journey was made 
without further interruption. Later, as has been men- 
tioned, Ramsgate was visited, and a stay of a month 
there enabled the Princess to see Walmer Castle and 
Dover. 

The event of most importance in the following year 
was the arrival at Kensington Palace, on a visit of some 



46 

weeks, of the Duke of Coburg with his two sons Ernest 
and Albert. Then, for the first time, the Queen saw her 
future husband. The visit was brought about by the 
agency of King Leopold, who in this carired out the 
long-cherished idea of his mother, the Dowager Duchess 
of Coburg, who had early set her heart on the union of 
her two grandchildren. They were received with every 
attention by the King and Queen, and the other members 
of the Royal family, and spent a busy time in seeing all 
they could in London and the neighborhood. They 
were much impressed by the sight of the great anniver- 
sary gathering of the children of the charity schools in 
Saint Paul's, after which they enjoyed the hospitality of 
the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House. Of this visit 
Prince Albert writes on the 1st of June, 1836: "My first 
appearance was a levee of the King's, which was long 
and fatiguing but very interesting. The same evening 
we dined at Court, and at night there was a beautiful 
concert, at which we had to stand till two o'clock. The 
next day the King's birthday was kept. We went in 
the middle of the day to a drawing-room at St. James' 
Palace, at which about 3,800 people passed before the 
King and Queen and the other high dignitaries to offer 
their congratulations. There was again a great dinner in 
the evening and then a concert which lasted till one 
o'clock. You can well imagine that I had many hard 
battles to fight against sleepiness during these late enter- 
tainments. The day before yesterday, Monday, our 
Aunt gave a brilliant ball here at Kensington Palace, at 
which the gentlemen appeared in uniform and the 
ladies in so-called fancy dresses. We remained till four 
o'clock. Duke William of Brunswick, the Prince of Or- 
ange and his two sons, and the Duke of Wellington, were 



47 

the only guests that you will care to hear about. Yester- 
day we spent with the Duke of Northumberland at Sion, 
and now we are going to Claremont. From this ac- 
count you will see how constantly engaged we are, and 
that we must make the most of our time to see at least 
some of the sights in London. Dear Aunt is very kind 
to us, and does everything she can to please us, and our 
Cousin also is very amiable." Almost simultaneously 
with the departure of the Prince from England, King 
Leopold spoke to his niece on the subject of his wishes, 
and in writing to him on the 7th of June the Princess 
concludes her letter by saying: "I have now only to beg 
you, my dearest Uncle, to take care of the health of one 
now so dear to me, and to take him under your special 
protection. I hope and trust that all will go on prosper- 
ously and well on this subject now of so much import- 
ance to me." 

The Autumn of this year, after a visit to Lord Liver- 
pool at Buxted Park, near Uckfield, was spent quietly at 
Ramsgate. 

On the 24th of May, 1837, the Princess attained her 
majority; she was wakened by a serenade, and later re- 
ceived a number of costly presents, including a grand 
piano from the King, who earnestly wished to see his 
niece of age before his death. The day was kept a gen- 
eral holiday at Kensington, there were addresses of con- 
gratulation from many public bodies, among them one 
from the Corporation of London, to which the Duchess 
of Kent replied: ", . . The Princess has arrived at 
that age, which now justifies my expressing my confident 
expectation, that she will be found competent to execute 
the sacred trust which may be reposed in her; for, com- 
municating as she does with all classes of society, she 



48 

cannot but perceive that the greater the diffusion of reli- 
gious knowledge and the love of freedom in a country, 
the more orderly, industrious and wealthy is its popula- 
tion; and that with the desire to preserve the constitu- 
tional prerogatives of the Crown ought to be co-ordinate 
the protection of the liberty of the people." To the ad- 
dress presented to herself the Princess simply replied: "I 
am very thankful for your kindness, and my mother has 
expressed all my feelings." On the evening of this day 
a State ball was given at St. James', at which neither the 
King nor Queen were able to be present, both being very 
ill. The Princess opened the ball with Lord Fitzalan, 
the eldest son of the Duke of Norfolk, and danced also 
with Prince Esterhazy. Before her next appearance at 
St. James' the Princess had succeeded to the throne. 

Many portraits were painted during her early years, of 
the Princess upon whom the hopes of the nation were 
fixed. One of the earliest is given at the head of this 
chapter; it is from a miniature painted by Anthony Stew- 
art, who had come from Scotland to London, where -he 
painted a miniature of Princess Charlotte, which brought 
him to the notice of Prince Leopold. He was one of the 
first to paint a miniature of the Princess, who afterwards 
sat to him repeatedly, and the engraving from these very 
delicate works were exceedingly popular. Shortly after- 
wards the Duchess of Kent sat with her daughter to Sir 
William Beechey, whose portraits of the Royal Family 
are well knowm; in this picture, of which a reproduction 
is given, the infant Princess stands on the sofa where her 
mother is sitting, and holds in her hand a miniature of 
her father. This picture was painted especially for 
Prince Leopold. Another charming portrait of the 
Princess is that by Westall, in which she is represented as 









49 

sketching from nature. Westall, as has been mentioned 
before, was drawing-master for the Princess; he died in 
1836, so that this picture is probably one of his latest 
works. In 1833 it has been noted above that the Princ- 
ess sat for her portrait to Wilkin and to Hayter. Of the 
work of the latter a reproduction is given. The Princess 
stands at a table holding a rose in her right hand, and 
from her left hangs a light scarf ; the glove from her right 
hand is the plaything of her favorite dog; in the back- 
ground is seen the newly-raised Round Tower of Wind- 
sor Castle. The portrait by Wilkin taken at the same 
time only exists in a somewhat rare lithograph; in it the 
hair is plaited on the crown in the same manner as in 
Hayter's picture. Of other early portraits mention may 
be made of a bust by Behnes, taken when the Princess 
was very young. It is now in the corridor at Windsor 
Castle, and is widely known by an engraving which had 
extensive circulation at the time, but gives a most dis- 
torted view of the excellent original. The portrait of the 
Duchess of Kent introduced in this chapter is taken from 
a miniature painting by Collen, after a picture painted in 
1835 by Sir George Hayter; in it may be traced the great 
likeness borne by the Duchess to her brother King Leo- 
pold, and also to her mother. 



CHAPTER FOUR. 

ACCESSION AND CORONATION (1837-1838). 

The demise of the Crown by the death of King William 
IV. had been expected for some time. On Tuesday, the 
20th of June, 1837, at twelve minutes past two, His Maj- 
esty expired. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who had 
performed the last religious rites, and Lord Conyngham, 
Lord Chamberlain, who was also in attendance, started 
as soon as was possible from Windsor, to convey the 
news to Kensington. They arrived at five in the morn- 
ing, and with some difficulty aroused the sleeping house- 
hold. After much delay, an attendant stated that the 
Princess was in such a sweet sleep that she could not be 
disturbed; to which the messenger replied: "We have 
come on business of State to the Queen* and even her 
sleep must give way to that." In a few minutes she 
came into the room, a shawl thrown over her dressing- 
gown, her feet in slippers, and her hair falling down her 
back. She had been wakened by the Duchess of Kent, 
who told Her Majesty she must get up; she went alone 
into the room where Lord Conyngham and the Arch- 
bishop were waiting. The Lord Chamberlain then knelt 
down, and presenting a paper announcing the death of 
her uncle to the Queen; and the Archbishop said he had 
come by desire of Queen Adelaide, who thought the 
Queen would like to hear in what a peaceful state the 



51 

King had been at the last. Meanwhile, at the Council 
Office, to which the news of the late King's death had 
been conveyed by special messenger from Windsor, sum- 
monses were issued with all possible haste to the Privy 
Counsellors to atend at Kensington, to present a loyal 
address of fealty, and to offer homage. This address, 
which had been kept in readiness, was conveyed at once 
to the Palace by Mr. Barrett Lennard, chief clerk of the 
Council Office, whose son, acting as his private secretary, 
has comunicated an account of the ceremony, of which he 
is now, besides Her Majesty, the only survivor. In the 
antechamber to which they were introduced six persons 
at most were present, among whom were the Duke of 
Sussex and the Duke of Wellington, with Lord Mel- 
bourne, who had previously been received in audience 
alone at 9 a. m. 

Subsequently about a dozen ministers, prelates and 
Officials, were admitted when the doors were closed. 
The address was real aloud and signed by the Duke of 
Sussex and then by the others present, after which the 
doors were opened, "disclosing a large State Saloon, 
close to whose threshold there stood unattended a small, 
slight, fair-complexioned young lady apparently fifteen 
years of age. She was attired in a close-fitting dress of 
black silk, her light hair parted and drawn from her 
forehead; she wore no ornament whatever on her dress 
or person. The Duke of Sussex advanced, embraced, and 
kissed her — his niece, the Queen. Lord Melbourne and 
others kissed hands in the usual form, and the usher 
taking the address, closed the folding doors, and the 
Queen disappeared from our gaze. No word was ut- 
tered by Her Majesty or by any present, and no sound 
broke the silence, which seemed to me to add to the im- 



52 

pressive solemnity and interest of the scence." The sub- 
sequent meeting of the Queen's first Council has been 
described by many of those who were privileged to at- 
tend it; and a fairly accurate picture of it has been 
painted by Sir David Wilkie, who, at the expense of 
truth, has emphasized the principal figure by painting 
her in a white dress instead of the black which was ac- 
tually worn, the Queen being already in mourning for 
the death of the mother of Queen Adelaide. The Council 
met at eleven o'clock, and at that hour the Queen, who 
had been accompanied to the adjoining room by her 
mother, was met by her uncles, the Dukes of Cumber- 
land and Sussex, who introduced her to the Council 
Chamber, where she took her seat on a chair at the head 
of the table. No better description of the scene can be 
given than that, often quoted, by Greville, clerk of the 
Council: "Never was anything like the first impression 
she produced, or the chorus of praise and admiration 
which is raised about her manner and behavior, and 
certainly not without justice. It was very extraordinary, 
and something far beyond what was looked for. Her 
extreme youth and inexperience, and the ignorance of 
the world concerning her, naturally excited intense curi- 
osity to see how she would act on this trying occasion, 
and there was a considerable assemblage at the palace, 
notwithstanding the short notice which was given. 
* * * She bowed to the Lords, took her seat, and 
then read her speech in a clear, distinct, and audible 
voice, and without any appearance of fear or embarrass- 
ment. She was quite plainly dressed and in mourning. 

"After she had read her speech, and taken and signed 
the oath for the security of the Church of Scotland, the 
Privy Counsellors were sworn, the two Royal Dukes 






53 

(of Cumberland and Sussex) first, by themselves; and 
as these two old men, her uncles, knelt before her, swear- 
ing allegiance and kissing her hand, I saw her blush up 
to the eyes, as if she felt the contrast between their civil 
and their natural relations, and this was the only sign 
of emotion which she evinced. Her manner to them was 
very graceful and engaging; she kissed them both, and 
rose from her chair and moved towards the Duke of 
Sussex, who was farthest from her and too infirm to 
reach her. She seemed rather bewildered at the multi- 
tude of men who were sworn, and who came one after 
another to kiss her hand, but she did not speak to any- 
body, nor did she make the slightest difference in her 
manner, or show any in her countenance, to any individ- 
ual of any rank, station, or party. I particularly 
watched her when Melbourne and the Ministers and 
the Duke of Wellington and Peel approached her. She 
went through the whole ceremony — occasionally look- 
ing at Melbourne for instruction when she had any 
doubt what to do, which hardly ever occurred — with 
perfect calmness and self-possession, but at the same 
time with a graceful modesty and propriety particularly 
interesting and ingratiating. When the business was 
done she retired as she had entered. * * * Peel 
said how amazed he was at her manner and behavior, 
at her apparent deep sense of her situation, her modesty, 
and at the same time her firmness. She appeared, in 
fact, to be awed, but not daunted, and afterwards the 
Duke of Wellington told me the same thing, and added 
that if she had been his own daughter he could not have 
desired to see her perform her part better." This de- 
scription from the pen of one not given to flattery, is 
corroborated by the testimony of many others present. 



54 

Earl Grey writes to the Princess Lieven: — "When 
called upon for the first time to appear before the Privy 
Council, and to take upon herself the awful duties with 
which at so early an age she has been so suddenly 
charged, there was in her appearance and demeanor a 
composure, a propriety, an aplomb, which were quite 
extraordinary. She never was in the least degree con- 
fused, embarrassed, or hurried; read the declaration 
beautifully; went through the forms of business as if 
she had been accustomed to them all her life." Lord 
Palmerston says in a letter to Lord Granville: — "The 
Queen went through her task with great dignity and 
self-possession; one saw she felt much inward emotion, 
but it was fully controlled. Her articulation was partic- 
ularly good, her voice remarkably pleasing." 

The same impression was conveyed by her demeanor 
at her High Council on the day following, at St. James's ; 
here, at 10 o'clock, the new monarch was formally pro- 
claimed Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. The quad- 
rangle of the palace in front of the window where Her 
Majesty was to appear was filled by her loyal subjects, 
conspicuous among whom was Daniel O'Connell, wav- 
ing his hat and cheering vociferously. A salute was 
fired in St. James's Park, and the Queen appeared at 
the window of the Presence Chamber, beneath which 
were posted the heralds, headed by the Duke of Norfolk, 
Earl Marshal of England, and Sir William Woods 
(father of the present Garter King-at-Arms), the Ser- 
geants-at-Arms, and State trumpeters. Sir William 
Woods, acting Garter King-at-Arms, read the Procla- 
mation announcing the Queen's accession, and ending 
with the words "to whom we do acknowledge all faith 
and constant obedience, with all hearty ad humble affec- 



55 

tion, beseeching God, by whom all Kings and Queens do 
reign, to bless the royal Princess Victoria with long and 
happy years to reign over us. God save the Queen." 
The band of the Guards then played the National An- 
them amid the cheers of the crowd. 

The second Council was held at noon, of which Gre- 
ville writes: "She presided with as much ease as if she 
had been doing nothing else all her life, and though 
Lord Lansdowne and my colleague had contrived be- 
tween them to make some confusion with the Council 
papers, she was not put out by it. She looked very well, 
and though so small in stature, and without much pre- 
tension to beauty, the gracefulness of her manner and 
the good expression of her countenance, give her on 
the whole a very agreeable appearance, and with her 
youth inspire an excessive interest in all who approach 
her, and which I can't help feeling myself. After the 
Council she received the Archbishops and Bishops, and 
after them the Judges." Crabb Robinson, in his diary, 
relates an incident which proves that, though the Queen 
could behave with extraordinary dignity when it was re- 
quired, she had not lost the gaiety and spirit of her 
youth. "The Bishop of London told Amyot," he says, 
"that when the Bishops were first presented to the 
Queen, she received them with all possible dignity and 
then retired. She passed through a glass door, and, for- 
getting its transparency, was seen to run off like a girl 
as she is. * * * This is just as it should be. If she 
had not now the high spirits of a girl of eighteen, we 
should have less reason to hope she would turn out a 
sensible woman at thirty." 

On the morning of her accession one of the first acts 
of the new Queen was to write a letter of condolence to 



56 

her widowed Aunt Adelaide, now Queen Dowager. This 
she addressed to "Her Majesty, the Queen;" it was 
pointed out that the correct address would have the ad- 
ditional word "Dowager," but she refused to make the 
alteration, saying, "I will not be the first person to re- 
mind her of it." Greville remarks of this, "Conyngham, 
when he came to her with the intelligence of the King's 
death, brought a request from the Queen Dowager that 
she might be permitted to remain at Windsor till after 
the funeral, and she has written a letter couched in the 
kindest terms, begging her to consult nothing but her 
own health and convenience, and to remain at Windsor 
just as long as she pleases. In short, she appears to 
act with every sort of good taste and good feeling, as 
well as good sense, and as far as it has gone nothing can 
be more favorable than the impression she has made, 
and nothing can promise better than her manner and 
conduct. * * * The young Queen, who might well 
be either dazzled or confounded with the grandeur and 
novelty of her situation, seems neither the one nor the 
other, and behaves with a propriety and decorum be- 
yond her years." 

Of all the letters and congratulations received at this 
time by the Queen, we may well believe that the most 
welcome was that from her cousin, Prince Albert, who, 
on hearing of the late King's death, wrote instantly as 
follows : — 

"BONN, 26th June, 1837. 

"MY DEAREST COUSIN:— I must write you a few 
lines to present you my sincerest felicitations on that 
great change which has taken place in your life. Now 
you are the Queen of the mightiest land of Europe, in 
your hand lies the happiness of millions. May Heaven 



57 

assist you and strengthen you with its strength in that 
high and difficult task. I hope that your reign may be 
long, happy, and glorious, and that your efforts may be 
rewarded by the thankfulness and love of your subjects. 
May I pray you to think, likewise, sometimes of your 
cousins in Bonn, and to continue to them that kind- 
ness you favored them with till now. Be assured that 
our minds are always with you. I will not be indiscreet 
and abuse your time. Believe me, always, your Maj- 
esty's most obedient and faithful servant, 

"ALBERT." 

This is the first letter written by the Prince in English, 
and shows what proficiency he had made in the lan- 
guage so soon to be his own. "How much," says one 
who had deeply studied his character, "of the Prince's 
great nature is visible in it — though addressed to a 
young and powerful Queen; there is not a word of flat- 
tery in it. His first thought is of the great responsibility 
of the position, the happiness of the millions that was 
at stake. Then comes the anxious hope that the reign 
may be glorious, and then how gracefully and naturally 
the tender regard of an affectionate relation comes in 
at the last." To his father, at the same time, he writes, 
"The death of the King of England has everywhere 
caused the greatest sensation. From what Uncle Leo- 
pold, as well as Aunt, writes to us, the new reign has 
begun most successfully. Cousin Victoria is said to have 
shown astonishing self-possession. She undertakes a 
heavy responsibility, especially at the present moment, 
when parties are so excited, and all rest their hopes on 
her. Poor Aunt has again been violently attacked in 



58 

the newspapers, but she has also found strenuous sup- 
porters." 

On the 13th of July, the Queen and the Duchess of 
Kent, greatly to the regret of the loyal subjects of the 
royal suburb, took their departure from Kensington to 
take up their residence at Buckingham Palace, formerly 
known as the Queen's House, having been bought by 
George III., and settled on Queen Charlotte, in lieu of 
Somerset House, the ancient home of the Queens of 
England. It was rebuilt by George IV., but not com- 
pleted till the reign of William IV., who disliked it ex- 
tremely, and never lived there. The Queen was greeted 
with hearty cheers, and seemed to leave with much regret 
the place of her birth and the home of her childhood. 
From Buckingham Palace four days later, she went in 
state to dissolve Parliament; the route from the Palace 
to the House of Parliament was densely thronged to see 
the young Queen, who was dressed, on this occasion, 
in white, with a tiara of brilliants, and wore the ribbon 
of the Garter over her shoulder. At three o'clock she 
entered the House of Lords, and ascended the throne; 
when, prompted by Lord Melbourne, who stood by her 
side, she desired the Lords to be seated. Her Majesty 
then read her speech, with that clear intonation for which 
her voice has always been distinguished, concluding by 
saying: "I ascend the throne with a deep sense of the 
responsibility which is imposed upon me; but I am sup- 
ported by the consciousness of my right intentions, and 
by my dependence upon the protection of Almighty God. 
It will be my care to strengthen our institutions, civil 
and ecclesiastical, by discreet improvement, wherever 
improvement is required ;and to to do all in my power 
to compose and allay animosity and discord. Acting 



59 

upon these principles, I shall, upon all occasions, look 
with confidence to the wisdom of Parliament and the af- 
fections of my people, which form the true support of 
the dignity of the Crown, and ensure the stability of the 
Constitution." Among those present in the House of 
Lords was Fanny Kemble, than whom no one could 
have been more competent to give an opinion on elocu- 
tion: "The enunciation was as perfect as the intonation 
was melodious, and I think it is impossible to hear a more 
excellent utterance than that of the Queen's English by 
the English Queen." The American statesman, Charles 
Sumner, was also present, and has recorded his own im- 
pression: "Her voice is sweet and finely modulated, and 
she pronounced every word distinctly and with a just re- 
gard to its meaning; I think I never heard anything bet- 
ter read in my life than her speech." 

On the 226. of the following month the Queen re- 
moved with the Court to Windsor Castle, where she 
soon had the pleasure of welcoming her uncle, King 
Leopold, and his consort, Queen Louise. Of this first 
sojourn at Windsor some interesting details are pre- 
served in the diary of the late Sir Charles Murray, who 
was then a newly appointed Groom-in- Waiting, from 
which post he was shortly afterwards promoted to be 
Master of the Household. On his arrival at Windsor, 
he writes: "I was presented and kissed hands, after 
which I joined the cavalcade, consisting of twenty-five 
or thirty equestrians, and we made a promenade about 
the Great Park for two hours. There was little or no 
form or ceremony observed as to precedence. The 
Queen rode generally in front, accompanied by the 
Queen of the Belgians (who was here on a short visit 
with her royal husband), and the King, the Duchess of 



60 

Kent, and now and then she called up Lords Conyng- 
ham, Wellington, or Melbourne to ride beside her. Her 
Majesty's seat on horseback is easy and graceful, and 
the early habit of command observable in all her move- 
ments and gestures, is agreeably relieved by the gentle 
tone of voice, and the natural playfulness, with which 
she addresses her relatives or the ladies about her. I 
never saw a more quick or observant eye. In the course 
of the ride it glanced occasionally over every individual 
of the party, and I am sure that neither absence nor im- 
propriety of any kind could escape detection. At half- 
past seven the guests and the household again met Her 
Majesty in the corridor, and we proceeded to dinner, 
the arrangements for which were handsome and with- 
out parade. The ladies retired to the drawing room, and 
we followed in a quarter of an hour. The band was in 
attendance at and after dinner, and played some excel- 
lent music, chiefly of Rossini and Bellini. During the 
evening Her Majesty conversed with her principal 
guests. She also played two games at draughts with 
the Queen of the Belgians, both of which she gained. 
Quod felix faustumque omen. There was a whist table, 
consisting of the Duchess of Kent, the King of the Bel- 
gians, Duke of Wellington, and Lilford." 

A few days after he writes: "We rode out at four, and 
as the King and Queen of the Belgians were of the party, 
we went rather slow and had but a short ride. * * * 
Our young Queen's manner to King Leopold is most 
respectful and affectionate ; indeed, her manner to every- 
one about her is perfectly winning and appropriate, and 
her countenance lights up with the most agreeable and 
intelligent expression possible. September ioth. — This 
being Sunday we accompanied Her Majesty to the 



61 

Chapel, and the party included her royal visitors, as well 
as the Chancellor, the Premier, Master of the Horse, 
etc. In the afternoon she took a short drive in the 
Great Park, and I went out on the terrace, which pre- 
sented a very gay and beautiful appearance, as the bands 
both of the Grenadiers and Life Guards were playing 
near the new fountain, and all the officers of the two 
regiments, as well as the belles of Windsor and the 
neighborhood, were enjoying their holiday promenade. 
At dinner I had a very interesting conversation with 
Baroness Lehzen, who has been for many years Her • 
Majesty's governess and preceptress. I know of noth- 
ing more creditable to herself or to her illustrious pupil, 
than the fact that one of the first acts of her reign was 
to secure and retain her preceptress in an honorable sit- 
uation about her own person. Her Majesty treats the 
Baroness with the most kind and affectionate confidence, 
and the latter tells me that she has carefully copied every 
letter of private correspondence of her young mistress, 
both before and since her coming to the throne; but that, 
since she has been Queen, Her Majesty has never shown 
her one letter of Cabinet or State documents, nor has 
she spoken to her, nor to any woman about her, upon 
party or political questions. As Queen she reserves all 
her confidence for her official advisers, while, as a 
woman, she is frank, gay, and unreserved as when she 
was a young girl. What a singular and excellent judg- 
ment is shown in this — Heaven grant it may be kept up, 
and rewarded by the affection and prosperity of her sub- 
jects. I had a long conversation with her on the 24th, 
while riding, chiefly on the subject of modern languages. 
She speaks French perfectly, and both reads and under- 
stands German, but does not like speaking it. Her Maj- 



62 

esty is also a good Italian scholar. Her conversation 
is very agreeable; both her ideas and language are nat- 
ural and original, while there is a latent independence of 
mind and strength of judgment discernible through the 
feminine gentleness of tone in which her voice is pitched. 
Every day that I have passed here has increased my ad- 
miration of the excellent judgment shown by Mme. de 
Lehzen in her education, and of the amiable and grate- 
ful feeling evinced by Her Majesty towards her govern- 
ess. It does the highest honor to both. There is an- 
other person in the household whose character it is not 
easy to penetrate, or to describe, Baron Stockmar. He 
is certainly possessed of great abilities, but is silent and 
reserved, while his general state of health seems almost 
to preclude the possibility of his being lively or commun- 
icative. At dinner he eats nothing, and talks less than he 
eats; but I observe that he holds quiet conversations 
with Lords Melbourne and Palmerston in the morning, 
and I should think it likely that he was much in the 
confidence of the Queen. He is a most intimate and 
faithful friend of the King of the Belgians. A day or 
two ago, she (the Queen) inspected the Life Guards and 
Grenadiers, on horseback, accompanied by the Duchess 
of Kent, Lord Hill, Conyngham, and the rest of her suite. 
She was dressed in a habit of the Windsor uniform, and 
wore a military cap, with a gold band passing under the 
chin. As the several companies and squadrons passed 
and saluted her, she raised her hand and returned the 
salute of each; and the grave earnestness of her manner 
as well as the graceful self-possession of her attitude 
struck me particularly." 

These graphic details give a pleasing impression of 
the routine of the Court life, and, indeed, with a few al- 



63 

terations, a tolerably accurate description of the manner 
in which the time is passed at the present day. Here, 
also, is recorded the first impression made on a shrewd 
observer by that remarkable man who afterwards so un- 
obtrusively, but so powerfully, influenced the conduct of 
affairs in the British Court, by his profound knowledge 
and practical wisdom. 

In the autumn of the year 1837 the Court moved to 
Brighton, but the stay at the Pavilion was not prolonged, 
as the crowding mob, whenever the gates of the grounds 
were passed, was anything but pleasant. Returning to 
London on the 4th of November, Her Majesty on the 9th 
paid her first visit, in state, to the City of London, and 
dined with the Lord Mayor in the Guildhall. The Queen 
traveled in the state carriage, attended by the Mistress 
of the Robes and the Master of the Horse, and escorted 
by the Life Guards, along the Strand to the Guildhall. 
At Temple Bar the procession halted, and the keys of 
the city were dutifully offered and graciously returned 
to the Lord Mayor, who then mounted his horse, and 
holding the City Sword, preceded the royal carriage. At 
St. Paul's another halt was made, and the Senior Scholar 
of Christ's Hospital, according to ancient custom, de- 
livered an address of welcome. On this occasion the 
great City Hall was magnificently decorated, and plate 
of fabulous value was displayed. In return for this splen- 
did entertainment Her Majesty conferred a baronetcy 
on the Lord Mayor, and was pleased to knight both the 
Sheriffs, one of whom was Mr. Moses Montefiore, the 
first of his faith to receive the honor from an English 
Sovereign. On the 24th of December, after going to 
the Houses of Parliament before the recess, the Queen 
went to Windsor for the Christmas holidays. At this 



64 

session of Parliament the details of the Queen's civil 
list had been arranged and passed, the whole amount- 
ing to the sum of £385,000 per annum. 

From the moment of her accession to the throne, she 
had been constantly brought into the most intimate re- 
lations with the Prime Minister, of whom Greville 
writes: "No man is more formed to ingratiate himself 
with her than Melbourne. He treats her with un- 
bounded consideration and respect; he consults her 
taste and her wishes, and he puts her at her ease by his 
frank and natural manner, while he amuses her by the 
quaint, queer, epigramatic turn of his mind, and his va- 
ried knowledge upon all subjects. It is not, therefore, 
surprising that she should be well content with her pres- 
ent government, and that during the progress of the elec- 
tions she should have testified great interest in the suc- 
cess of the Whig candidates. Her reliance upon Mel- 
bourne's advice extends at present to subjects quite be- 
side his constitutional functions, for the other day 
somebody asked her permission to dedicate some novel 
to her, when she said she did not like to grant the per- 
mission without knowing the contents of the work, and 
she desired Melbourne to read the book, and let her 
know if it was fit that she should accept the dedication. 
Melbourne read the first volume, but found it so dull 
that he would not read any more, and sent her word that 
she had better refuse, which she accordingly did. She 
seems to be liberal, but at the same time prudent with 
regard to money, for when the Queen Dowager pro- 
posed to her to take her band into her service, she de- 
clined to incur so great an expense without further con- 
sideration, but one of the first things she spoke to Mel- 
bourne about was the payment of her father's debts, 



65 

which she is resolved to discharge" — and they were dis- 
charged accordingly. Later he writes on the same sub- 
ject: "George Villiers, who came from Windsor on Mon- 
day, told me he had been exceedingly struck with Lord 
Melbourne's manner to the Queen, and hers to him; his, 
so parental and anxious, but always so respectful and def- 
erential; hers, indicative of such entire confidence, such 
pleasure in his society. She is constantly talking to him; 
let who will be there, he always sits next her at dinner, 
and evidently by arrangement, because he always takes 
in the lady-in-waiting, which necessarily places him next 
her, the etiquette being that the lady-in-waiting sits next 
but one to the Queen. It is not unnatural, and to him 
it is peculiarly interesting. I have no' doubt he is pas- 
sionately fond of her, as he might be of his own daugh- 
ter if he had one, and the more because he is a man with 
a capacity for loving without having anything in the 
world to love. It is become his province to educate, in- 
struct, and form the most interesting mind and character 
of the world. No occupation was ever more engrossing 
or involved greater responsibility. I have no doubt that 
Melbourne is both equal to and worthy of the task, and 
that it is fortunate that she has fallen into' his hands, and 
that he discharges this great duty wisely, honorably, and 
conscientiously. There are, however, or rather may be 
hereafter, inconveniences in the establishment of such 
an intimacy, and in a connection of so close and affec- 
tionate a nature between the young Queen and her Min- 
ister; for whenever the Government, which hangs by a 
thread, shall be broken up, the parting will be painful, 
and their subsequent relations will not be without em- 
barrassment to themselves, nor fail to be the cause of 
jealousy in others. It is a great proof of the discretion 



66 

and purity of his conduct and behavior that he is ad- 
mired, respected, and liked by all the Court." This rup- 
ture, however, apparently so imminent, did not occur till 
another, and a permanent counsellor, took his place as a 
husband by the Queen's side. 

On the 27th of June, 1838, the Queen was crowned in 
Westminster Abbey, an event which, on account of the 
age and sex of the Sovereign, excited an extraordinary 
degree of interest among all classes. It was afterwards 
computed that no less than four hundred thousand per- 
sons came into London to' see the procession and festiv- 
ities, and that upwards of £200,000 was in consequence 
expended. The ceremonial was conducted in nearly all 
respects in the same manner as that of the coronation 
of William IV.; the walking procession of all the es- 
tates of the realm, the banquet in Westminster Hall, with 
all the feudal services attendant thereon, being dispensed 
with; not without some protests from the antiquaries, as 
well as from interested tradesmen. The procession, how- 
ever, outside the Abbey was considerably increased in 
number as well as in splendor, and the route from the 
Palace to the Abbey lengthened, so as to give the vast 
throngs of people more opportunity of seeing their Sov- 
ereign. As nearly as possible at ten o'clock the Queen 
stepped into her carriage, a new Royal Standard (30 by 
18 feet), was hoisted on the Marble Arch, the bands 
played the National Anthem, and a salute of twenty-one 
guns was fired in the Park. Following the Trumpeters 
and Life Guards came the magnificent State Carriages 
of the Foreign Ambassadors, a novel sight on such an 
occasion. Conspicuous among them was the splendid 
coach of Marshal Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, the old an- 
tagonist of the Duke of Wellington, and now Ambassa- 



67 

dor from the King of the French; the veteran was 
greeted all along the line of procession, and even in the 
Abbey itself, with the heartiest cheers. Next came the 
members of the Royal Family, preceding the Queen's 
carriages, conveying the Members and Officers of the 
Household; after which, surrounded by a brilliant staff 
and escort, came the State Carriage bearing the Sov- 
ereign, in attendance upon whom were the Mistress of 
the Robes, the Duchess of Sutherland, and the Master 
of the Horse, the Earl of Albemarle; the Captain-Gen- 
eral of the Royal Archers, the Duke of Buccleuch, on 
horseback, followed the carriage. 

The Queen reached the west door of the Abbey at 
half-past eleven, and was there received by the great 
Officers of State, the noblemen bearing the Regalia, and 
the Bishops carrying the Patina, the Chalice and the 
Bible. Her Majesty then repaired to her robing cham- 
ber, and soon after twelve the grand procession passed 
up the nave into the choir, in the centre of which was 
a raised dais covered with cloth of gold, on which was 
placed the chair of homage. Farther on, within the 
chancel and facing the altar, was placed St. Edward?s 
chair. The altar was covered with magnificent gold 
plate. As the Queen advanced, the anthem, "I was glad 
when they said unto me, Let us go into the House of 
the Lord," was sung by the choir, at the close of which 
the boys of Westminster School shouted "Vivat Victoria 
Regina." Then, amid a solemn hush, the Queen passed 
to a faldstool and knelt in silent prayer, after which the 
ceremonial proceeded. First came "The Recognition/' 
by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who advanced to the 
Queen, accompanied by the Lord Chancellor, the Lord 
Great Chamberlain, the Lord High Constable, and the 



68 

Earl Marshal, preceded by the Deputy-Garter, and re- 
peated these words: "Sirs, I here present unto you 
Queen Victoria, the undoubted Queen of this realm; 
wherefore all you who are come this day to do your 
homage, are you willing to do the same?" In answer 
burst forth the universal cry, "God save Queen Victo- 
ria/' repeated as the Archbishop turned to the north, 
south, and west, the Queen turning at the same time in 
the same direction. Her Majesty then advanced to the 
altar and made her first offering of a pall or altar cloth 
of gold, which was laid on the altar, on which had been 
previously placed the Chalice, Patina, and Bible. An 
ingot of gold, of one pound weight, was then presented 
by the Queen to the Archbishop, by whom it was placed 
in the oblation-basin. After the Litany and the first 
portion of the Communion Service, the Sermon was 
preached by the Bishop of London, at the conclusion, of 
which the Oath was administered by the Archbishop of 
Canterbury. After asking the Queen if she would gov- 
ern according to the Statutes of Parliament, and the 
laws and customs of the realm, and whether she would 
cause law and justice in mercy to be executed, he further 
asked: "Will you, to the uttermost of your power, main- 
tain the laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel, 
and the Protestant reformed religion, established by 
law; and will you maintain and preserve inviolably, the 
settlement of the United Church of England and Ire- 
land, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and govern- 
ment thereof as by law established, within England and 
Ireland, and the territory thereunto belonging; and will 
you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England 
and Ireland, and to the churches there committed to 
their charges, all such rights and privileges as by law do 



69 

or shall appertain to them or any of them?" Having 
answered these questions in the affirmative, and pre- 
ceded by the Great Officers of State, Her Majesty went 
to the altar, where kneeling, and with her right hand 
upon the Gospels held before her by the Archbishop, she 
said: "The things which I have here before promised I 
will perform and keep. So help me God." The Queen 
having kissed the book, and signed a transcript of the 
Oath, then knelt upon the faldstool while the choir sang, 
"Veni, Creator, Spiritus." 

The Archbishop then said the prayer preceding the 
anointing, after which the choir sang the Coronation 
Anthem, at the beginning of which the Queen retired to 
St. Edward's Chapel with her ladies and train-bearers, 
and was divested of her crimson robe and kirtle. She 
then put on the super-tunica of cloth of gold, also in the 
shape of a kirtle, over a linen gown trimmed with lace, 
and taking off her circlet of diamonds returned bare- 
headed to the Abbey, where she took her seat in King 
Edward's chair; four Knights of the Garter held over 
her head a rich canopy of cloth of gold, the Archbishop 
then anointed the head and hands of the Sovereign, 
marking them in the form of a cross, and pronouncing 
the words, "Be thou anointed with holy oil, as kings, 
priests, and prophets were anointed. And as Solomon 
was anointed King by Zadok the priest and Nathan the 
prophet, so be you anointed, blessed and consecrated 
Queen over this people, whom the Lord your God hath 
given you to rule and govern, in the name of the Father 
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen." A ben- 
ediction from the Archbishop followed; after which the 
spurs were presented by the Lord Great Chamberlain, 
and the Sword of State by Lord Melbourne, who, ac- 



70 

cording to custom, redeemed it with a hundred shillings, 
and carried it unsheathed during the rest of the cere- 
mony. 

The Queen, who had been invested with the Imperial 
mantle, or dalmatic robe of cloth of gold lined with er- 
mine, then received the Orb, which she found very 
heavy. In the investure "per annulum et baculum," the 
ring and sceptre, which followed, it was found that the 
ring was too small, and it was only by great exertion 
that it could be placed on the third finger, where it 
caused great pain, and could only be removed after the 
ceremony by bathing the hand in iced water. The Arch- 
bishop having offered a prayer to God to bless Her Maj- 
esty and "crown her with all princely virtues," received 
the crown from the Dean, and reverently placed it on 
the Queen's head. This was no sooner done than from 
every part of the Abbey rose a loud and enthusiastic cry 
of "God save the Queen!" At this moment, the Peers 
and Peeresses present put on their coronets, the Bishops 
their caps, and the Kings-at-Arms their crowns; the 
trumpets sounded, the drums beat, and salutes were 
fired by signal from the Park and Tower guns. The 
Bible was then presented to the Queen. She returned it 
to the Archbishop, who, after restoring it to the altar, 
pronounced the Benediction, after which the "Te Deum" 
was sung by the choir, and the Queen was then "en- 
throned" or "lifted," according to the formulary, by the 
Archbishops, Bishops, and Peers surrounding her, into 
the chair of homage, where first the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury knelt, and did homage for himself and other 
Lord Spirituals, who all kissed the Queen's hand. Then 
the Queen's uncles, the Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge, 
removing their coronets, did homage in these words: 



71 

"I do become your liegeman of life and limb, and of 
earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, 
to live and die, against all manner of folks. So help me 
God." They touched the Crown on the Queen's head, 
kissed her left cheek, and retired; it was noticed that Her 
Majesty's bearing to her uncles was very affectionate. 
Then, according to their precedence, the Dukes and 
other Peers performed their homage, the senior of each 
rank reciting the words, each Peer kissing Her Ma- 
jesty's hand and touching the Crown. The aged Lord 
Rolle, who was over eighty, trying to mount the steps, 
fell down, and with difficulty was raised. He again at- 
tempted to perform his duty, when the Queen, rising 
from her seat, went to meet him, to prevent him coming 
up farther, and extended her hand to him to kiss; "an 
act of graciousness and kindness which made a very 
great sensation." 

While the homage was performed by the Lords, the 
Earl of Surrey, Lord Treasurer of the Household, threw 
to the occupants of the choir, and the lower galleries, 
the silver Coronation medals; these were scrambled for 
with great eagerness. After the homage was over, the 
Anthem, "This is the day which the Lord hath made," 
was sung, followed by the sound of the drums and trum- 
pets, and nine loud and hearty cheers from the House 
of Commons, who then joined in the homage. The re- 
mainder of the Communion Service was then read, and 
the Queen, divested of the symbols of Sovereignty, re- 
ceived the Holy Sacrament; then resuming her crown, 
and holding the sceptre, she took her seat on the 
Throne, when the Service was concluded, and the final 
blessing pronounced, followed by the singing of the 
"Hallelujah Chorus." This ended the long ceremonial; 



72 

Her Majesty left the Throne, and proceeded to the west 
door of the Abbey, wearing the Crown, her right hand 
holding the Sceptre with the Cross, and the left support- 
ing the Orb; she was followed by the Peers and Peer- 
esses, now wearing their coronets, and the brilliant after- 
noon sun pouring through the windows made the scene 
one of incomparable splendor. Along the homeward 
route the manifestations of loyalty were even more en- 
thusiastic than in the morning; for the Queen was now 
fully apparelled in State, and wore the Crown, in the 
front of which blazed the historic ruby of Poitiers and 
Agincourt. Mrs. Jamieson, who witnessed the pro- 
cession, writes: "When she returned, looking pale and 
tremulous, crowned, and holding her sceptre in a man- 
ner and attitude which said, T have it, and none shall 
wrest it from me!' even Carlyle, who was standing near 
me, uttered with emotion, 'A blessing on her head.' ' 

It has been recorded that, after this tiring ceremon) , 
the Queen gave a banquet at the Palace to a hundred 
guests; but this is hardly accurate, as no one was at din- 
ner except those in the house, among whom were Her 
Majesty's half-brother and sister, and her future father- 
in-law, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg. The crowd was too 
great, indeed, for any one to have come, had they been 
invited. The Ministers gave official State dinners, and 
the Duke of Wellington a grand ball, to which 2,000 
guests were invited; and a fair was held in Hyde Park, 
which lasted four days; the theatres were thrown open, 
and the whole of London was illuminated, the conduct 
of the crowds being excellent. 

Of the routine of the Court after its return to Windsor 
in this year, Greville gives a full account: "The life 
which the Queen leads is this: She gets up soon after 



73 

eight o'clock, breakfasts in her own room, and is em- 
ployed the whole morning in transacting business; she 
reads all the dispatches, and has every matter of interest 
and importance in every department laid before her. At 
eleven or twelve Melbourne comes to her, and stays an 
hour, more or less, according to the business he may 
have to transact. At two she rides with a large suite 
(and she likes to have it numerous); Melbourne always 
rides on her left hand, and the enquerry-in-waiting gen- 
erally on her right; after riding she amuses herself for 
the rest of the afternoon with music and singing, play- 
ing, romping with children, if there are any in the Castle 
(and she is so fond of them that she generally contrives 
to have some there), or in any other way she fancies. 
The hour for dinner is nominally half-past seven o'clock, 
soon after which time the guests assemble; but she 
seldom appears till near eight. When the guests are all 
assembled, the Queen comes in, preceded by the gentle- 
men of her household, and followed by the Duchess of 
Kent and all her ladies. She remains at table the usual 
time, but does not suffer the men to sit long after her, 
and we were summoned to coffee in less than a quarter 
of an hour. In the drawing-room she never sits down 
till the men make their appearance. Coffee is then 
served to them in the adjoining room, and then they go 
into the drawing-room, when she goes round and says a 
few words to each. When this little ceremony is over, 
the Duchess of Kent's whist table is arranged. At about 
half-past eleven Her Majesty goes to bed. This is the 
whole history of her day; she orders and regulates every 
detail herself; she knows where everybody is lodged in 
the Castle, settles about the riding or driving, and en- 
ters into every particular with minute attention." This 



74 

regularity in allotment of time, and careful attention to 
every point of detail, both in her own household and the 
discharge of public duty, has been one of the marked 
characteristics of Her Majesty's life throughout the 
whole of her long reign. Even in its earliest days, she 
would refuse to sign a document declared to be of para- 
mount importance without having mastered its contents; 
but the story, which has gained extensive currency, that 
once she replied to Lord Melbourne, who was urging 
the expediency of a measure, "I have been taught to 
judge between right and wrong, but expediency is a 
word I neither wish to hear nor to understand," is quite 
a myth. The last matter of importance before the great 
change in her life, to be told in the next chapter, was 
the fall and restoration of the Melbourne administration, 
when, on the question of the retirement with the Gov- 
ernment of the Ladies of the Household, the firmness of 
the young Queen resulted in her retaining them in her 
service, and the Ministry remained practically un- 
changed. 



CHAPTER FIVE. 

ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE; 1839-40. 

On the 26th of August, 1819, almost exactly three 
months after the birth of the Princess Victoria of Kent, 
was born the second son of Ernest, Duke of Saxe- 
Coburg-Saalfeld, and of his wife, Louise, daughter of 
Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. He was 
born at Rosenau, a favorite Summer residence of his 
father, and received the names of Frances Albert Charles 
Augustus Emanuel. At his baptism an address was 
pronounced by the Superintendent Genzler, who had of- 
ficiated the year before at the marriage of the Duke and 
Duchess of Kent at Coburg. In it occur two passages 
which are singularly prophetic of the after life of the 
infant Prince. "The good wishes," said the preacher, 
"with which we welcome this infant as a Christian, as 
one destined to be great on earth, and as a future heir 
to everlasting life, are the more earnest when we con- 
sider the high position in life in which he may one day 
be placed, and the sphere of action to which the will of 
God may call him, in order to contribute more or less to 
the promotion of truth and virtue, and to the extension 
of the Kingdom of God. * * * The thoughts and 
supplications of the loving mother are: that her beloved 
son may one day enter into the Kingdom of God, as pure 
and innocent after the trials of this life as he is at this 



76 

moment (the joy and hope of his parents) received into 
the Communion of this Christian Church, whose voca- 
tion it is to bring up and form upon earth a God-fear- 
ing race." These words, spoken at his baptism, could 
not have been more descriptive of the Prince had they 
been used after his premature death. 

The child received his first name of Francis from the 
Emperor of Austria. But he was always called by his 
second name, Albert, given him after a Duke of Saxe 
Teschen, an ancestor, whose branch of the family subse- 
quently became extinct. Duke Ernest, the father of 
Prince Albert, succeeded his father, Francis Anthony, of 
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, in 1806, and afterward, in 1826, 
by a redivision of the family titles and estates, became 
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The Duke's second 
brother, Ferdinand George, married the heiress of the 
Prince of Kohary, in Hungary, and their son became 
King Consort of Portugal by his marriage with Queen 
Donna Maria II. of that kingdom. The third brother 
was Leopold, King of the Belgians. Of the four daugh- 
ters of Duke Francis, mention has been made in a pre- 
ceding chapter. 

As has been before stated, the union of the Prince 
with his cousin Victoria was the cherished hope of their 
common grandmother, who died when her grand- 
children were only twelve years old; but their uncle, 
King Leopold, steadily pursued this plan, afterward 
crowned with such conspicuous success. The first meet- 
ing of the cousins has already been mentioned, and the 
strong affection entertained by the Queen for the Prince 
is shown by her letter to her uncle at the close of the 
visit to Kensington. The probability of the union was no 
secret at the time,though King William IV. preferred the 



77 

idea of an alliance with Prince Albert of the Netherlands. 
But after the Queen's accession to> the throne, rumors of 
her contemplated marriage with Prince Albert became 
general. It was in order to quiet these reports that, in 
the autumn of 1837, by the advice of the King of the 
Belgians, the Prince, with his brother Prince Ernest, 
went for a tour in Switzerland. 

The Queen, alluding in 1864 to this tour, relates that 
that the Prince sent her a small book of sketches. "The 
whole of these were placed in a small album, with the 
dates at which each place was visited in the Prince's 
handwriting; and this album the Queen now considers 
one of her greatest treasures, and never goes anywhere 
without it. Nothing had at this time passed between the 
Queen and the Prince; but this gift shows that the lat- 
ter, in the midst of his travels, often thought of his young 

cousin." 

In the early part of the next year, the Prince paid a 
visit to his uncle Leopold at Brussels, when the King 
spoke to him fully about his future prospects. The 
King had already mentioned to the Queen the idea of 
the marriage, and the proposal must have been favorably 
entertained, for, in writing to Baron Stockmar, he al- 
ludes to the manner in which Prince Albert had received 
the communication which, of course with the Queen's 
consent, he had made to him. In his letters he ex- 
presses the very high opinion which he had formed of 
his nephew's character. "He looks at the question from 
its most elevated and honorable point of view; he con- 
siders that troubles are inseparable from all human po- 
sitions, and that, therefore, if one must be subject 
to plagues and annoyances, it is better to be so for 
some great or worthy object, than for trifles and mis- 



78 

eries. I have told him that his great youth would make 
it necessary to postpone the marriage for a few years." 

The interval of postponement was not long. On the 
8th of October, 1839, the Princes Ernest and Albert left 
Brussels on the expedition which decided the fate of 
the younger brother. At Windsor, two days later, they 
were most cordially and affectionately received by the 
Queen. Four days were spent in the usual manner, rid- 
ing in the afternoon with dinner parties and sometimes 
dances in the evening, and on the 14th the Queen, in 
an interview with Lord Melboure, told him that she 
made up her mind to the marriage. He expressed great 
satisfaction at the decision, and said to her, as Her 
Majesty records in her journal, u '1 think it will be very 
well received; for I hear that there is an anxiety now 
that it should be, and I am very glad of it;' adding, in 
quite a paternal tone, 'You will be much more comfort- 
able; for a woman cannot stand alone for any time, 
in whatever position she may be.' " Can we wonder 
that the Queen, recalling these circumstances, should ex- 
claim, "Alas alas! the poor Queen now stands in that 
painful position!" An intimation was conveyed to the 
Prince that the Queen wished to> speak to him next 
day, and, accordingly, soon after noon he obeyed the 
summons to her room, where he found her alone. 
After a few moments' conversation the Queen told him 
why she had sent for him. 

His old friend, Baron Stockmar, is thus informed by 
by the Prince of his engagement, "I write to> you on 
one of the happiest days of my life to give you the most 
welcome news possible." "Victoria is so good and kind 
to me, that I am often puzzled to believe that I should 
be the object of so much affection. I know the interest 



79 

you take in my happiness, and therefore pour out my 
heart to you. * * * More, or more seriously, I cannot 
write, I am at this moment too much bewildered to 
do so — 

" 'Heaven opens on the ravish'd eye, 
The heart is all entranced in bliss.' " 

These lines are thus translated from Schiller's "Song of 
the Bell," by Sir Theodore Martin, in his Life of the 
Prince Consort, where more correspondence between the 
different members of the family, at this interesting time, 
is given at length. 

It had been originally intended to communicate the 
approaching event to Parliament, when it assembled, 
in the ordinary course, at the beginning of the coming 
year. This intention was, however, subsequently aban- 
doned. Writing to the King of the Belgians on the 29th 
of October, 1839, tne Queen says: "Before I proceed 
further, I wish just to mention one or two alterations 
in the plan of announcing the event. As Parliament 
has nothing whatever to say respecting the marriage — 
can neither approve nor disapprove it (I mean in a 
manner which might affect it) — it is now proposed that, 
as soon as my cousins are gone (which they now in- 
tend to do on the 14th of November, as time presses), 
I should assemble all the Privy Council, and announce 
my intention to them." 

Writing from Windsor at this time to Baron Stock- 
mar, Prince Albert strikes, as it were, the keynote of 
his future career: "I have laid to heart your friendly 
and kind-hearted advice as to the true foundation on 
which my future happiness must rest, and it agrees en- 
tirely with the principles of action which I had already 



80 

privately framed for myself. An individuality, a char- 
acter, which shall win the respect, the love, and the con- 
fidence of the Queen and of the nation, must be the 
groundwork of my position. This individuality gives 
security for the disposition which prompts the actions; 
and even should mistakes occur, they will be more easily 
pardoned on account of that personal character; while 
even the most noble and beautiful undertakings fail in 
procuring support to a man who is not capable of in- 
spiring that confidence. If therefore, I prove a 'noble' 
Prince, in the true sense of the word, as you call upon 
me to- be, wise and prudent conduct will become easier 
to me, and its results more rich in blessings. I will not 
let my courage fail. With firm resolution and true zeal 
on my part, I cannot fail to continue 'noble, manly, and 
princely' in all things. In what I may do, good advice 
is the first thing necessary; and that you can give better 
than any one, if you can only make up your mind to 
sacrifice your time to me for the first year of my ex- 
istence here." 

In the same strain of thought, the devotion of all his 
own individual powers for the good and happiness of 
millions, he writes to his stepmother; "With the excep- 
tion of my relations toward her (the Queen), my future 
position will have its dark sides, and the sky will not 
always be blue and unclouded. But life has its thorns 
in every position, and the consciousness of having used 
one's powers and endeavors for an object so great as that 
of promoting the good of so many, will surely be suffi- 
cient to support me." 

Of the character of the Prince at this time, perhaps 
the best analysis is to be found in a letter addressed by 
Baron Stoekmar to the Baroness Lehzen. It was im- 



81 

portant to give a proper estimate of him to the members 
of the Royal Household, and to show that, though so 
young, he was deserving of their admiration and re- 
spect. The letter is dated 15th of December, 1839. 
"With sincere pleasure I assure you the more I see of 
the Prince the better I esteem and love him. His in- 
tellect is so sound and clear, his nature so> unspoiled, 
so childlike, so predisposed to goodness as well as truth, 
that only two external elements will be required to make 
of him a truly distinguished Prince. The first of these 
will be opportunity to acquire a proper knowledge of 
men and of the world; the second will be intercourse with 
Englishmen of experience, culture, and integrity, by 
whom he may be made thoroughly conversant with their 
Nation and Constitution. * * * As regards his future re- 
lation to the Queen, I have a confident hope that they 
will make each other happy by mutual love, confidence, 
and esteem. As I have known the Queen, she was al- 
ways quick and acute in her perceptions, straightfor- 
ward moreover, of singular purity of heart, without a 
trace of vanity or pretension. She will consequently do 
full justice to the Prince's hand and heart; and if this 
be so, and the Prince be really loved by the Queen, 
and recognized for. what he is, then his position will be 
right in the main, especially if he manage at the same 
time to secure the good will of the Nation. Of course 
he will have storms to encounter, and disagreeables, 
like other people, especially those of exalted rank. But 
if he really possesses the love of the Queen and the re- 
spect of the Nation, I will answer for it that after 
every storm he will come safely into port. You will 
therfore have my entire approval, if you think the best 
course is to leave him to his clear head, his sound feel- 
ing and excellent disposition." 



82 

On the 20th of November, 1839, the Queen, who- had 
already communicated to all the members of the Royal 
Family the news of her intended marriage, came up 
from Windsor to Buckingham Palace to confer with 
Lord Melbourne upon the form of the declaration to be 
made to the Privy Council at its meeting on the 23d. On 
that day the Council, upward of eighty in number, as- 
sembled in the bow-room at the Palace, where the 
Queen read the following declaration: "I have caused 
you to be summoned at the present time in order that 
I may acquaint you with my resolution in a matter which 
deeply concerns the welfare of my people, and the hap- 
piness of my future life. It is my intention to ally my- 
self in marriage with the Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg 
and Gotha. Deeply impressed with the solemnity of the 
engagement which I am about to contract, I have not 
come to this decision without mature consideration, nor 
without feeling a strong assurance that with the bless- 
ing of Almighty God it will at once secure my domes- 
tic felicity and serve the interests of my country. 

"I have thought fit to make this resolution known to 
you at the earliest period, in order that you may be 
apprised of a matter so highly important to me and to 
my kingdom, and which, I persuade myself, will be 
most acceptable to all my loving subjects." 

"Whereupon," it is stated in the Minutes of Council, 
"all the Privy Councillors present made it their humble 
request to Her Majesty that Her Majesty's most gra- 
cious declaration to them might be made public; which 
Her Majesty was pleased to order accordingly." 

The announcement of the forthcoming marriage was 
hailed with great rejoicing through the country. 
Mixed with the cordial sympathy felt by the people 



83 

with the prospect of the happiness of their beloved sov- 
ereign, was a feeling of profound satisfaction at the re- 
moval of all uncertainty as to the object of the Queen's 
choice. 

During the period immediately following the declara- 
tion, precedents were searched for bearing on the 
Prince's position and the composition of his household. 
Unfortunately the precedent commonly referred to was 
that of Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Queen 
Anne, who was a Peer, and also for some time Lord High 
Admiral of England. Prince Albert, however, as had 
been previously decided between the Queen and him- 
self, refused every title. Other matters, too, had to be 
discussed, such as the naturalization of the Prince, the 
formation of his household, and the income which was to 
be settled upon him. This last matter and the question 
of his precedence were not arranged without some dif- 
ficulty and annoyance. On the 16th of January, 1840, the 
Queen opened Parliament in person, meeting a most en- 
thusiastic reception from the crowds which had assem- 
bled along the route from the Palace to the Houses of 
Parliament, the Queen herself recording in her journal 
that she "was more loudly cheered than she had been 
for some time." The House itself was densely thronged, 
and the whole assemblage was deeply touched at hearing 
the youthful sovereign, with her clear voice and distinct 
articulation, announcing to the assembled Parliament her 
own approaching marriage. 

"Since you were last assembled, I have declared my 
intention of allying myself in marriage with the Prince 
Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. I humbly implore 
that the Divine blessing may prosper this union, and 
render it conducive to the interests of my people, as 



84 

well as to my own domestic happiness; and it will be 
to me a source of the most lively satisfaction to find the 
resolution I have taken approved by my Parliament. 

"The constant proofs which I have received of your 
attachment to my person and family, persuade me that 
you will enable me to provide for such an establishment 
as may appear suitable to the rank of the Prince, and the 
dignity of the Crown." 

In answer to the Queen's speech, loyal addresses were 
moved in both Houses. Sir Robert Peel, as leader of 
the Opposition, joined heartily in the congratulations of- 
fered by the address, saying: "I do entirely enter into 
the aspirations for the happiness of Her Majesty in her 
approaching nuptials. * * * Her Majesty has the singu- 
lar good fortune to be able to gratify her private feelings 
while she performs her public duty, and to obtain the best 
guarantee for happiness by contracting an alliance 
founded on affection. I cordially hope that the union 
now contemplated will contribute to Her Majesty's hap- 
piness, and enable her to furnish to her people an exalted 
example of connubial felicity." 

Cordial, however, though the general feeling of both 
Houses was as to< the intended marriage, the omission 
of any mention of the Prince's religion from the Queen's 
speech was the subject of debate in the Upper House; 
and in the House of Commons a long and heated dis- 
cussion arose on the proposal to' grant an annual sum 
of £50,000 to Prince Albert on his marriage. The 
amount of the grant was finally fixed at £30,000, much to 
the annoyance of the Queen, and to the disappointment 
of the Prince, who had looked forward to the pros- 
pect of being able to promote the interests of literature, 
science, and art in a more generous manner than his 



85 

reduced income permitted. From the first he rose su- 
perior tO' anything like personal considerations, and his 
future relations with the leaders of the party by whose 
means the vote was reduced, showed how little his con- 
duct was influenced by these political quarrels. 

A more mortifying event, occurring on the same day 
in the House of Lords, was the defeat of the Gov- 
ernment on the question of the precedence to be granted 
in this country to the Prince. The Queen, in her journal, 
says that she was most indignant at what had occurred, 
and that it cannot be wondered at that the first impres- 
sion made on the Prince's mind should have been a most 
painful one. But, as has already been said, he soon un- 
derstood the nature of our political parties, and recog- 
nized that the proceedings in Parliament were only the 
result of high party feeling, and were by no means to 
be taken as marks of personal disrespect or of want of 
kind feeling to himself. For details of these controversies 
and the feeling they produced, the reader is referred to 
Sir Theodore Martin's Life of the Prince Consort. The 
immediate result was an order in Council which settled 
the Prince's position as following next after that of the 
Queen. 

The news of these debates in the Houses of Parlia- 
ment met the Prince on his way to England at Aix. He 
was naturally somewhat disturbed, but remarks in his 
letter to the Queen, "All I have to say is, that, while I 
possess your love, they cannot make me unhappy." Any 
misgiving as to his popularity must, however, have been 
dispelled by the warmth of his reception at Dover, where 
he landed on the 6th of February, 1840, and by the en- 
thusiastic greeting which welcomed him along his jour- 
ney through Kent till he reached Buckingham Palace on 
the 8th. 



86 

The marriage was fixed for one o'clock on the ioth at 
the Chapel Royal, St. James's, and at half-past twelve the 
Queen left Buckingham Palace with the Duchess of Kent 
and the Mistress of the Robes, the Duchess of Suther- 
land. The morning had been dark and dismal, with rain 
and fog. The Prince, who was supported by his 
father, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and by his 
brother Ernest, had preceded the Queen to the chapel. 
He wore the Garter, and the Star of the Order in bril- 
liants which had been presented to him the day before 
by the Queen. After a short interval, to the strains of the 
National Anthem, the procession of the bride entered. 
The Queen was preceded by the members of the Royal 
Family and the officers of State, the sword of State being 
carried before Her Majesty by Lord Melbourne. She 
wore a wreath of orange blossoms, and round her shoul- 
ders the collar of the Garter. Her train was borne by 
twelve bridesmaids, daughters of peers. They were the 
Lady Adelaide Paget, Lady Caroline Gordon Lennox, 
Lady Sarah Villiers, Lady Elizabeth Howard, Lady 
Frances Cowper, Lady Ida Hay, Lady Elizabeth West, 
Lady Catherine Stanhope, Lady Mary Grimston, Lady 
Jane Bouverie, Lady Eleanora Paget, and Lady Mary 
Howard. The ceremony was performed by the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and the royal bride was given away 
by the Duke of Sussex. A large picture of the cere- 
mony was painted by Sir George Hayter, the principal 
group from which has been reproduced in the plate op- 
posite page 68. It is taken at the moment when the 
Queen accompanied her promise to "love, honor and 
obey," with the look of love and trust which assured 
the spectators that her heart was in her words. At the 
instant when the ring was placed on her finger, the signal 



87 

was given for firing* the guns which communicated to 
the whole city the glad news of the union of the sov- 
ereign with the husband of her choice. The scene, as the 
newly married pair left the chapel, has been described by 
the Dowager Lady Lyttelton, one of the ladies-in-wait- 
ing, who, writing a few days afterward, says: "The 
Queen's look and manner were very pleasing; great hap- 
piness in her countenance ; and her look of confidence and 
comfort at the Prince, when they walked away as man 
and wife, was very pleasing to see. I understand she is 
in extremely high spirits since. Such a new thing for her 
to dare to be unguarded in conversing with anybody; 
and with her frank and fearless nature, the restraints she 
has hitherto been under from one reason or another must 
have been most painful." 

After the conclusion of the ceremony the Queen and 
Prince Albert, with the members of the Royal Family 
and the principal Ministers of State, passed into the 
throne-room. Here the marriage register was signed. 
By special permission a fac-simile of the document is 
given on the opposite page. These signatures were 
attested by the Queen Adelaide and others present to 
the number of twenty-one; the Duke of Wellington's 
name does not appear, though it has often been said that 
he was one of the signatories. The united procession 
then returned to Buckingham Palace, the Queen being 
accompanied in her carriage by her husband alone. After 
the wedding breakfast the newly married pair started for 
Windsor; the sun, as they left the Palace, bursting 
through the clouds — an omen of brightness and happi- 
ness for the future. Windsor was reached in the even- 
ing, where the reception was no less loyal and enthusi- 
astic than had been the greetings of the populace in 
London. 



88 

On the 28th of February the Duke of Coburg left 
England. The separation was keenly felt by the Prince. 
"He said to me," the Queen records in her Journal, 
"that I had never known a father, and could not there- 
fore feel what he did. His childhood had been very 
happy. Ernest, he said, was now the only one remain- 
ing here of all his earliest ties and recollections; but that 
if I continued to love him as I did now, I could make 
up for all. * * * Oh, how I did feel for my dear- 
est, precious husband at this moment. Father, brother, 
friends, country — all has he left, and all for me. God 
grant that I may be the happy person, the most happy 
person,, to make this dearest, blessed being happy and 
contented! What is in my power to make him happy I 
will do." 



CHAPTER SIX. 

MARRIED LIFE; 1840-52. 

Loyalty claims much from, and lays heavy burdens on, 
those who have to sustain its duties and responsibilities. 
Little time can be given to rest and repose, and in the 
case of the Queen and Prince Albert the privacy, which 
newly married subjects are privileged to enjoy for weeks, 
was, after four short days, exchanged for the routine of 
State ceremonial and public business. The Court re- 
turned to London on the 14th of February, and ad- 
dresses were received both by the Queen and the Prince 
from the two Houses of Parliament, and other bodies. 
In the evenings State dinners were given, and visits paid 
to the theatres. On the 19th the first levee was held, at 
which the Prince, as on all subsequent occasions, led the 
Queen in, and stood on her left hand. On the 17th of 
March the Prince received and personally answered no 
less than twenty-seven addresses. In writing to his 
grandmother, he remarks: "It is not to be told what 
a quantity of presentations I have, and how many people 
I must become acquainted with. I cannot yet quite re- 
member their faces, but this will come right. After the 
last levee, Victoria gave me the Order of the Bath." The 
Prince had already received the Garter, and had been 
made a Field-Marshal in the British Army. He was, in 
addition, appointed Colonel of the Eleventh Regiment 



90 

of Light Dragoons, which regiment then received and 
still bears the title of Prince Albert's Own Hussars. 

His Royal Highness' Household had also by this time 
been appointed. On this subject he had expressed a 
very earnest wish in a letter to the Queen on the ioth 
of December, 1839: "Now I come to a second point 
which you touch upon in your letter, and which I have 
also much at heart; I mean the choice of the persons who 
are to belong to my household. The maxim, 'Tell me 
whom he associates with, and I will tell you who he is,' 
must here especially not be lost sight of. I should wish 
particularly that the selection should be made without 
regard to politics; for if I am really to keep myself free 
from all parties, my people must not belong exclusively 
to one side. Above all, these appointments should not 
be mere 'party rewards,' but they should possess other 
recommendations besides those of party. Let them be 
either of any high rank, or very rich, or very clever, or 
persons who have performed important services for 
England. It is very necessary that they should be 
chosen from both sides — the same number of Whigs as 
of Tories; and above all do I wish that they should be 
well-educated men, and of high character, who, as I have 
already said, shall have already distinguished themselves 
in their several positions, whether it be in the Army, or 
Navy, or in the scientific world. I know you will agree 
with my views." 

The Prince's household consisted of a Groom of the 
Stole, of two Lords-in-Waiting, two Equerries, after- 
ward increased to four, two Grooms-in-Waiting, and a 
Private Secretary. These officers were appointed on the 
principle which was observed in the Queen's household, 
namely, that those appointments only should be perma- 



91 

nent which were held by men entirely unconnected with 
politics. This regulation, however, only affected the 
Groom of the Stole, Lord Robert Grosvenor (afterward 
Lord Ebury), and one of the Lords-in-Waiting. The 
nomination of Mr. Anson as Private Secretary was not 
made without considerable hesitation, and was con- 
sented to by the Prince with reluctance, on the ground 
that, as Mr. Anson had been for some time Private Sec- 
retary to Lord Melbourne, his appointment to so con- 
fidential a post might seem inconsistent with the entire 
freedom from partisanship which the Prince had de- 
sired should be observed in the formation of his house- 
hold. The appointment, however, proved singularly 
satisfactory. Mr. Anson's straightforward conduct and 
absolute devotion to the service and interests of his 
master soon won the entire confidence and friendship of 
Prince Albert. His sudden death at a later date deeply 
affected the Prince, who said to the Queen, "He was 
my only intimate friend in this country. We went 
through everything together since I came here. He was 
almost like a brother to me." 

Up to this time her mother had been the Queen's con- 
stant companion. But on the 13th of April Her Royal 
Highness removed to Ingestre House, Belgrave Square. 
Here the Duchess lived till after the death of the Princess 
Augusta, when she moved to Clarence House, St. 
James', which for the rest of her life was her London 
home. At the same time Frogmore House, which be- 
came vacant from the same cause, was also assigned to 
the Duchess, who, when the Court was at Windsor, 
came over almost daily to lunch or dine with the Queen. 

Easter, 1840, was spent at Windsor, and for the first 
time the Queen and Prince received the Sacrament to- 



92 

gether in St. George's Chapel. "The Prince," the Queen 
says, "had a very strong feeling about the solemnity of 
this act, and did not like to appear in company either 
the evening before or on the day on which he took it, 
and he and the Queen almost always dined alone on 
these occasions." The Queen notes this strong feeling 
on the part of the Prince more than once in her Journal 
for 1840 and 1841. On another occasion, a few monihs 
later, about Christmas time, when they again took the 
Sacrament in the private chapel at Windsor, she says: 
"We two dined together, as Albert likes being quite 
alone before he takes the Sacrament; we played part of 
Mozart's Requiem, and then he read to me out of the 
Stunden der Andacht (Hours of Devotion) the article 
on Selbsterkenntniss (Self-knowledge)." 

On the 23d of May, the Queen and Prince went to 
Claremont to keep Her Majesty's birthday in private. 
This continued to be the Queen's custom till 1848, when 
Claremont was given up to the exiled royal family of 
France. In later years the birthday was passed at Os- 
borne, but since 1861 the Queen has usually spent the 
day at Balmoral. 

On the 10th of June, 1840, an event occurred which 
created intense excitement throughout the country. 
While the Queen and Prince were driving in the after- 
noon along Constitution Hill on their way to Hyde 
Park, a young man named Edward Oxford advanced 
within a few yards of the carriage, and fired a pistol at 
the Queen. He missed his aim, but, as the carriage pro- 
ceeded on its way, the would-be assassin called out, "I 
have another," and discharged a second pistol, again 
without effect. The Queen's first thought was for her 
mother, and, changing her route to Belgrave Square, 



93 

the Duchess of Kent heard of the attempt and of her 
daughter's safety at the same moment. 

On leaving Ingestre House and driving through the 
Park on their return to the Palace, the Queen and the 
Prince were received by an immense crowd, which had 
collected on hearing the news, with enthusiastic demon- 
stration of loyalty and rejoicing at the escape of their 
sovereign. The trial of Oxford for high treason was 
held in the Central Criminal Court on the 8th of July. 
The jury returned the verdict of "Not guilty on the 
ground of insanity," and the prisoner was therefore 
ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure. 
After thirty-five years' imprisonment at Bedlam and 
Dartmoor, he was released on condition that he would 
emigrate to Australia. 

About the same time, the prospect of an heir to the 
throne rendered it expedient to provide for the possi- 
bilities of the death of the Queen, and of a prolonged 
minority. The question of a Regency had therefore to 
be considered. The Queen, in her Journal, says: "A 
Council of Regency was first suggested; but when Lord 
Melbourne spoke to the Duke of Wellington, he im- 
mediately answered for himself, 'that it could and ought 
to be nobody but the Prince.' ' A bill for the purpose 
was brought in and passed with only one dissentient 
voice, that of the Duke of Sussex. On the 2d of August 
the Prince writes: "The Regency Bill has passed safely 
through all its stages, and is now conclusively settled. 
* * * It is very gratifying that not a single voice 
was raised in opposition in either House, or in any one 
of the newspapers." And this was more gratifying, as 
Lord Melbourne told the Queen it was entirely owing 
to the golden opinions the Prince had won everywhere 



94 

since his arrival. "Three months ago," Lord Melbourne 
said to the Queen, "they would not have done it for 
him;" adding, the Queen writes in her Journal, "with 
tears in his eyes, 'it is entirely his own character.' " 

On the nth of August the Queen porogued Parlia- 
ment in person, and next day the Court left London for 
Windsor, where the Queen and Prince received the 
King and Queen of the Belgians, the Princess Hohen- 
lohe and her children, and Queen Adelaide. A short 
visit was paid in September to Claremont, at the time 
of the death of Princess Augusta, in order to be away 
at the time of Her Royal Highness' funeral, which, on 
account of the Queen's health, the Prince could not 
attend. 

On the 13th of November, 1840. the Court returned to 
Buckingham Palace, and there, on the 21st, the Queen's 
first-born saw the light. In a letter to his father, on the 
23d, the Prince writes: "The little one is very well and 
very merry. * * * I should certainly have liked it 
better if she had had a son, as would Victoria also; but, 
at the same time, we must be equally satisfied and 
thankful as it is. * * * The rejoicing in the public 
is universal." 

"For a moment only," the Queen says, "was he disap- 
pointed at its being a daughter, and not a son. His first 
thought was for the safety of the Queen, and during the 
time she was laid up, his care and devotion were quite 
beyond expression." 

During the Queen's illness the Prince, who, in the 
previous September, had been introduced into the 
Privy Council, saw the ministers, and transacted all nec- 
essary business for her. From the very first, the Queen, 
on the advice of Lord Melbourne, had communicated all 



95 

dispatches on foreign affairs to the Prince, who, writing 
to his father, says: "I think I have already done some 
good. I always commit my views to paper, and then 
communicate them to Lord Melbourne. He seldom an- 
swers me, but I have often had the satisfaction of seeing 
him act entirely in accordance with what I have said." 
Again, in 1841, when the Eastern Question was ap- 
proaching a crisis, the Prince writes: "I study the poli- 
tics of the day with great industry. I speak quite openly 
with the Ministers on all subjects, so> as to gain in- 
formation. * * * And I endeavor quietly to be of as 
much use to Victoria in her position as I can." 

The Prince had, in fact, already qualified himself to 
render the Queen invaluable service in the political crisis 
that was now rapidly approaching. On the 23d of June, 
1 84 1, Parliament had been dissolved. But the elections 
went against the Government, who, on August the 28th, 
were defeated in the new Parliament by a majority of 91, 
in the debate on the address. Two days later the Min- 
istry resigned. In thus resigning, Lord Melbourne had 
the consolation of feeling that he left a devoted, sa- 
gacious, and permanent counsellor at the Queen's side; 
"For four years," he said, "I have seen you every day; 
but it is so different now to what it would have been in 
1839. The Prince understands everything so well, and 
has a clever, able head." The Queen, as she records in 
her Journal, saw Lord Melbourne before he left the Cas- 
tle, and was much affected in taking leave of him. "You 
will find," he said, "a great support in the Prince; he 
is so able. You said when you were going to be mar- 
ried that he was perfection, which I thought a little 
exaggerated then, but really I think now that it is in 
some degree realized." And a few days afterwards, 



96 

writing to King Leopold, Her Majesty says: "I can- 
not say what a comfort and support my beloved Albert 
is to me — how well and how kindly and properly he be- 
haves. I cannot resist copying for you what Lord 
Melbourne wrote to me about him, the evening after 
we parted. He had already praised him greatly to me 
before he took leave of me. It is as follows: 'Lord 
Melbourne cannot satisfy himself without again stat- 
ing to Your Majesty in writing what he had the honor 
of saying to Your Majesty respecting His Royal High- 
ness, the Prince. Lord Melbourne has formed the high- 
est opinion of His Royal Highness' judgment, 
temper, and discretion, and he cannot but feel a great 
consideration and security in the reflection that he leaves 
Your Majesty in a situation in which Your Majesty has 
the inestimable advantage of such advice and assistance. 
Lord Melbourne feels certain that Your Majesty cannot 
do better than have recourse to it whenever it is needed, 
and rely upon it with confidence.' This naturally gave 
me great pleasure, and made me very proud, as it comes 
from a person who is no flatterer, and would not have 
said it if he did not think so or feel so." 

The same impression of ability was made by the Prince, 
in the early years of his married life, on the succeeding 
Minister. Sir Robert Peel, writes Lord Kingsdown in 
his Recollections (quoted by Sir Theodore Martin), 
"when he introduced me to him in 1841, said that I 
should find him one of the most extraordinary young* 
men I had ever met with. So," adds Lord Kingsdown, 
"it proved. His aptitude for business was wonderful; the 
dullest and most intricate matters did not escape or weary 
his attention; his judgment was very good; his readiness 
to listen to any suggestions, though against his own opin- 



97 

ions, was constant; and though I saw his temper very 
often tried, yet in the course of twenty years, I never 
once saw it disturbed, nor witnessed any signs of im- 
patience." 

On the ioth of February, 1841, the first anniversary of 
the marriage of her parents, the infant Princess Royal 
was christened at Buckingham Palace. A new silver-gilt 
font had been provided for the occasion, richly orna- 
mented with the arms of the Princess and her father and 
mother — a font which has always since been used for 
royal baptisms to the present day. The water used on the 
occasion was brought from the river Jordan. The cere- 
mony was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
who was assisted by the Archbishop of York, the Bish- 
ops of London and Norwich, and the Dean of Carlisle. 
The sponsors were Queen Adelaide, the Duchess of 
Gloucester, the Duchess of Kent, the King of the Bel- 
gians, the Duke of Sussex, and the Duke of Saxe-Co- 
burg and Gotha, who was represented by the Duke of 
Wellington. The names, "Victoria Adelaide Mary 
Louisa," were given to the infant by Queen Adelaide. 
Prince Albert wrote to the Dowager-Duchess of Gotha, 
'The christening went off very well; your little great- 
granddaughter behaved with great propriety and like a 
Christian. She was awake but did not cry at all, and 
seemed to crow with immense satisfaction at the lights 
and brilliant uniforms, for she is very intelligent and 
observing. The ceremony took place at half-past six 
p. m. After it there was a dinner, and then we had some 
instrumental music. The health of the little one was 
drunk with great enthusiasm." 

It was in this year that the Queen had the great sat- 
isfaction of seeing Prince Albert placed at the head of 



98 

the Royal Commission, appointed to promote and en- 
courage in the United Kingdom that study of the fine 
arts for which a unique opportunity was afforded by the 
building of the new Houses of Parliament. To fill such a 
post the Prince was exceptionally fitted. King Leopold 
in his "Reminiscences/' in writing of his own father, 
says: "His great love and knowledge of everything con- 
nected with the fine arts was inherited by Albert. No 
one else in the family possessed it to the same degree." 
The chairmanship of this Commission brought the Prince 
into connection with the leading public and literary men 
of the country, and he followed up the connection with 
characteristic energy and ability. By constant and unre- 
mitting labor he was able to influence, more than any sin- 
gle man, the movement which, from this date and 
through the Great Exhibition of 1851, raised the artistic 
level of the country from the depths in which it had pre- 
viously stagnated. 

At this time the Queen and the Prince were both prac- 
tising the art of etching, under the able tuition of Mr., 
afterward Sir Edwin, Landseer, one of the few English 
artists of the day of brilliant and original genius. In 
quantity their work was necessarily limited by the pres- 
sure of important business; but in quality it was excel- 
lent, and the precision of drawing and neatness of execu- 
tion in the plates, which were all bitten in under their 
own supervision, have always excited the admiration of 
those who possess, or have seen, these interesting pro^ 
ductions. 

On the 9th of November, 1841, a male heir was born 
to the throne. The event was announced by a Gazette 
Extraordinary, dated "Buckingham Palace, November 
9th. This morning, at twelve minutes before eleven 



99 

o'clock, the Queen was happily delivered of a Prince, His 
Royal Highness, Prince Albert, Her Royal Highness the 
Duchess of Kent, several Lords of Her Majesty's most 
honorable Privy Council, and the Ladies of Her Maj- 
esty's Bedchamber being present. This great and im- 
portant news was immediately made known to the town 
by the firing of the Park and Tower guns; and the 
Privy Council being assembled as soon as possible there- 
upon, at he Council Chamber, Whitehall, it was ordered 
that a Form of Thanksgiving for the Queen's safe deliv- 
ery of a Prince be prepared by His Grace the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, to be used in all churches and 
chapels throughout England and Wales, and the town 
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, on Sunday the 14th of Novem- 
ber, or the Sunday after the respective ministers shall re- 
ceive the same. Her Majesty and the infant Prince are, 
God be praised, both doing well." Successive bulletins 
confirmed the glad news of the convalescence of Her 
Majesty and of the health of the Prince. The only draw- 
back to the national rejoicing was the serious illness of 
the Queen Adelaide, who lay in a very critical state, 
from which, in the course of a short time, she happily 
recovered. 

The news of the birth of the Prince nowhere created 
more excitement and satisfaction than in the city of 
London, where the citizens were engaged in celebrating 
the inauguration of their chief magistrate, and the Lord 
Mayor and the authorities immediately proceeded in 
great state to the Palace to tender their loyal congratu- 
lations to their sovereign. The Prince, who was born 
Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, was shortly 
afterward created, by letters patent, Prince of Wales and 
Earl of Chester. 



100 

The Queen's recovery was so rapid that, on the 6th 
of December, the Court removed to Windsor. "We ar- 
rived here sains et saufs," writes the Queen to King 
Leopold, "with our awfully large nursery establishment 
yesterday morning. I wonder very much whom our 
little boy will be like. You will understand how fer- 
vent are my prayers, and I am sure everybody's must be, 
to see him resemble his father in every, every respect, 
both in body and mind! Oh, my dearest uncle, I am 
sure if you knew how happy, how blessed I feel, and how 
proud in possessing such a perfect being as my husband, 
and if you think that you have been instrumental in 
bringing about this union, it must gladden your heart!" 
Again, on the 14th of December, the Queen continues, 
"We must all have trials and vexations, but if one's home 
is happy then the rest is comparatively nothing. I as- 
sure you, dear uncle, that no one feels this more than 
I do. I had this autumn one of the severest trials I 
could have, in parting with my government, and particu- 
larly from one kind and valued friend, and I feel even 
now this last very much: but my happiness at home, 
the love of my husband, his kindness, his advice, his sup- 
port and his company make up for all, and make me 
forget it." 

On the 25th of January, 1842, the Prince of Wales was 
christened in St. George's Chapel at Windsor. The 
choice of sponsors was not easy. The difficulty was 
met by inviting the King of Prussia to undertake the 
office. Though not connected with the parents by the tie 
of blood, his position as sovereign of the most important 
Protestant kingdom on the Continent justified the selec- 
tion. King Frederic William, who 1 had long been anx- 
ious to Aasit England, accepted the invitation. Arriving 



101 

at Greenwich on the 22d, he proceeded at once to Wind- 
sor. Royal baptisms had been hitherto, as a rule, cele- 
brated within the Palace; but in the special circum- 
stances, it was considered expedient that the heir to the 
throne should be christened in a consecrated and his- 
torical building. No fitter shrine for the purpose could 
have been chosen than the regal chapel which was raised 
in honor of, and dedicated to, the Patron Saint of the 
land. The rite was performed at ten a. m., with great 
state and splendor. Besides the King of Prussia, the 
other sponsors were the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, repre- 
sented by the Duchess of Kent, the Duke of Cambridge, 
the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha, represented by the Duchess 
of Cambridge, the Princess Sophia, represented by the 
Princess Augusta of Cambridge, and Prince Ferdinand 
of Saxe-Coburg. The principal group around the font, 
which is that mentioned previously as made for the chris- 
tening of the Princess Royal, is represented on the op- 
posite page, in the reproduction taken from the large 
picture painted in commemoration of the event by Sir 
George Hayter. The Queen, in her Journal, says: "It 
is impossible to describe how beautiful and imposing 
the effect of the whole scene was in the fine old chapel, 
with the banners, the music, and the light shining on 
the altar." 

The King of Prussia remained in this country for a 
fortnight, and on the 3d of February, the day before his 
departure, he was present at the opening of Parliament 
by the Queen in person. Of this brilliant scene the 
Baroness Bunsen gives a graphic account in a letter 
quoted in her husband's Memoirs: "On Thursday was 
the opening of Parliament — the great scene from which 
I had expected most, and was not disappointed. The 



102 

throngs in the streets, in the windows, on every spot 
where foot could stand — all looking' so pleased — the 
splendid Horse Guards, the Grenadier Guards — of whom 
it might be said, as the King did on another oc- 
casion, 'an appearance so fine you know not how to be- 
lieve it true' — the Yeoman of the Body Guard; then in 
the House of Lords, the Peers in their robes, the beauti- 
fully dressed ladies, with many, many beautiful faces; 
last the procession of the Queen's entry, and herself, 
looking worthy and fit to be the converging point of so 
many rays of grandeur. * * * The composure with 
which she filled the throne, while awaiting the Commons, 
was a test of character — no fidget and no apathy. Then 
her voice and her enunciation could not be more perfect. 
In short, it could be said that she did well, but she 
was the Queen; she was, and felt herself to be, the 
acknowledged chief among grand national realities. 
Placed in a narrow space behind Her Majesty's mace- 
bearers, and peeping over their shoulders, I was enabled 
to hide and subdue the emotion I felt, in consciousness 
of the mighty pages of the world's history condensed in 
the words, so impressively uttered in the silver tones of 
that feminine voice — Peace and War, the fate of millions, 
relations of countries, exertions of power felt to the 
extremities of the globe, alterations of corn laws, the birth 
of a future sovereign — mentioned in solemn thankfulness 
to Him in whose hands are nations and rulers! With 
what should one respond, but with the heartfelt aspira- 
tion, 'God bless and guide her! for her sake, and the 
sake of all!'" 

At the time of this opening of Parliament, the condition 
of home and foreign affairs was very serious. Scarcity 
of work inflicted widespread suffering on the manufac- 



103 

turing districts ; riots among the workers in the iron and 
coal industries, and the risings threatened by Chartist 
agitators, caused deep anxiety to the ministry, whose 
powers of dealing with disturbances at home were en- 
feebled by the drain of troops required for operations 
abroad. The country was at war with China; in the 
West Indies and at the Cape the authorities needed all 
the help that could be spared; in Afghanistan a life and 
death struggle was raging, in which the British army 
had already met with the terrible disaster of the Cabul 
Pass; and in every quarter the outlook was full of men- 
ace and danger. A falling revenue demanded bold meas- 
ures of finance, and the Queen cordially concurred in the 
proposal of Sir Robert Peel to impose an income tax, 
a step never before taken except under the pressure of 
a war expenditure, and always to the last degree un- 
popular. The Queen authorized her Ministers to> an- 
nounce that it was her wish not to be exempt from the 
operation of the tax, and this announcement was not 
without effect in reconciling her subjects to an impost 
previously unknown to> that generation. 

In order to revive the trade in London, every effort 
was made by the Court to stimulate its depressed con- 
dition. Dinners, concerts, and balls were frequently 
given, and on the 7th of May, with the same object, a 
grand costume ball was held in Buckingham Palace. At 
this the Queen appeared as Queen Philippa and the 
Prince as Edward III. Most of the guests wore cos- 
tumes of the same date. The dress of the Queen was of 
Spitafields manufacture. On the 26th, the Queen and 
Prince went in state to a ball given at Covent Garden 
Theatre on behalf of the distressed Spitafields weavers. 
Fancy balls were also held at Apsley House and at 



104 

Stafford House with the same charitable object. 

On the 29th of May, 1842, an attempt on the Queen's 
life, repeated by him next day, was made by a man named 
John Francis. An account of this outrage, confirmed 
by the Prince as authentic, has been given by Col. Ar- 
buthnot, one of the equerries. "On Sunday, the 29th 
of May, at about two p. m., as Her Majesty alighted 
from her carriage at Buckingham Palace on her return 
from church, she spoke to Prince Albert, and on His 
Royal Highness entering the Palace he called me aside, 
and stated to me that a man in the crowd had pre- 
sented a pistol toward the carriage, and he distinctly 
heard the noise, the same as the shutting of a pocket- 
knife. His Royal Highness suggested to me the impor- 
tance of keeping this a profound secret, but at once to. 
consult the Inspector of Police. * * * In the evening 
Sir James Graham arrived, and he, Sir R. Peel, Col. 
Rowan and I went into a lower drawing room, where 
Sir Robert wrote down His Royal Highness' deposition 
to him. It was then fully agreed on the vital importance 
of our keping the matter a profound secret. * * * Her 
Majesty determined on the afternoon of Monday to 
drive out. I took every possible precaution, and His 
Royal Highness directed me to ride close to Her Maj- 
esty, and to request Col. Wylde to do the same, but 
His Royal Highness was so alive to the importance that 
the attempt on Sunday afternoon should be perfectly 
secret that he desired me not to mention it even to him. 
Her Majesty appeared to be as fully alive as I was 
to the danger she was incurring, but was, nothwithstand- 
ing, most calm, cheerful and composed, at the same time, 
I am sure, fully alive to the probability that from be- 
hind every tree she might be shot at. His Royal 



105 

Highness, I know, was fully conscious this might be the 
case. 

"I had a strong feeling that, as the man had failed, 
and could not be aware that he was seen, he would take 
the earliest opportunity of renewing the attempt; so 
strong was my feeling, that I went myself to the stables 
to desire that on no account might Kangaroo be sent for 
me to ride, as he was a sluggish horse, and difficult to 
keep near the carriage, but notwithstanding, to my hor- 
ror, Kangaroo was sent for me to ride and too late for 
me to change. The Queen drove through Hyde Park, 
the Regent's Park, and to Hampstead. I got, as soon 
as we were out of observation, on my groom's horse, and 
then I experienced a relief I cannot express, as I was 
able then to keep close to Her Majesty. We went fast 
home, but on passing through the gate at Constitution 
Hill, I desired the wheel postillion to drive even faster, 
which he did. Before arriving at the pump, I observed 
a man seemingly eager to see the Queen; on approach- 
ing him he snatched a pistol out of his breast and level- 
ing quickly, aimed at the Queen, but owing to the 
rapid pace at which we were going, my horse being very 
near him, he was disconcerted, and by the mercy of 
Providence, aimed too low. Her Majesty heard the 
report, and her extraordinary calmness was wonderful. 
She was naturally affected, but did" not betray the slight- 
est appearance of alarm, but was as calm and as col- 
lected as when looking at the view at Hampstead. * * * 
His Royal Majesty struck me as being very much af- 
fected at Her Majesty's providential escape. On see- 
ing the man after he had fired, His Royal Highness ex- 
claimed: Tt is the same man.'" 

Prince Albert, in his letter to his father, describing the 



106 

occurrence, says : "The shot must have passed under the 
carriage, for he lowered his hand. We felt as if a load 
had been taken off our hearts, and we thanked the 
Almighty for having preserved us a second time from so 
great a danger. John Francis (that is the man's name) 
was standing near a policeman, who immediately seized 
him, but could not prevent the shot. It was at the 
same spot where Oxford had fired at us, two years ago, 
with this difference only, that Oxford was standing on 
our left, with his back to the garden wall." 

Mr. Anson, the Prince's Secretary, in his memoranda 
of the same day, says: "Her Majesty seemed none the 
worse. She told me she had fully expected it, and it 
was a relief to her to have it over. She had for some 
time been under the impression that one of these mad 
attempts would be made. * * * Her Majesty said she 
never could have existed under the uncertainty of a con- 
cealed attack. She would rather run the immediate risk 
at any time than have the presentiment of danger con- 
stantly hovering over her. She had been much grati- 
fied by the kind feeling people had shown." Contrary 
to her usual custom, she had on this day dispensed with 
the attendance of her ladies. To Miss Liddell, afterward 
Lady Bloomfield, the Queen said on her return to the 
Palace: "I daresay, Georgy, you were surprised at not 
driving with me this afternoon, but the fact was that as 
we returned from church yesterday, a man presented a 
pistol at the carriage window, which flashed in the pan; we 
were so taken by surprise that he had time to escape; 
so I knew what was hanging over me, and I was deter- 
mined to expose no life but my own." 

Francis was examined before the Privy Council and 
committed to Newgate for trial at the next session of the 



107 



Central Criminal Court. On the day following the at- 
tempt, an immense concourse of people assembled at 
the Palace in expectation that the Queen would take her 
accustomed drive. Nor were they disappointed. The royal 
carriage contained the Queen and Prince with the Duke of 
Saxe-Meiningen. Following on horseback were the Count 
Mensdorff with his four sons, and the two equerries. The 
royal party was loudly cheered, and the drive was quite 
a triumphal progress; Her Majesty's subjects appreciat- 
ing with delight not only the presence of mind displayed 
by their youthful sovereign at the moment of danger, 
but the nerve with which she could go to meet it. The 
Queen, writing to King Leopold, says : "I was not really 
at all frightened, and feel very proud at dear Uncle Mens- 
dorff calling me Very courageous,' which I shall ever re- 
member with delight, coming from so distinguished an 
officer -as he is." In the evening the Queen, with Prince 
Albert, went to the Italian opera, where the audience, 
with tumultuous gratulations, called for the National 
Anthem, bursting into cheers at almost every line. On 
the day following address of congratulations were voted 
by both Houses of Parliament, followed by others from 
all parts of the kingdom. 

Francis was tried for high treason on the 17th of June, 
found guilty, and sentenced to death. The Queen was 
most anxious that the sentence should not be carried out, 
and the Government, after consultation with the judges, 
commuted the sentence to transportation for life. The 
very next day after this exercise of clemency, another 
outrage was attempted, as the Queen, with the King of 
the Belgians, was driving to the Chapel Royal, St. 
James'. A deformed youth, named Bean, pointed a 



108 

pistol at the Queen, but it fortunately missed fire, nor did 
the Queen know anything - of the matter till her return to 
Buckingham Palace. On being told of it, she merely 
said that, so long as the law remained that these attempts 
could only be dealt with as acts of high treason, a recur- 
rence of them must be expected. The Ministry, there- 
fore, with as much haste as possible, brought in a bill 
making these attempts high misdemeanors, to be pun- 
ished by transportation for seven years, or imprisonment, 
with, or without, hard labor, for a term not exceeding 
three years, the culprit "to be publicly, or privately, 
whipped, as often, and in such manner and form, as the 
Court shall direct, not exceeding thrice." The bill be- 
came law on the 16th of July, and under it Bean was, on 
August 25th, sentenced to eighteen months' imprison- 
ment. 

At Buckingham Palace, in the Summer of 1842, the 
Queen and Prince Albert had received Mendelssohn. 
The celebrated musician has given graphic details of his 
visit. He says in his letter to his mother: "I must tell 
you all the details of my last visit to Buckingham Palace. 
It is, as G. says, the one really pleasant and comfortable 
English house where one feels a son aise. Of course, 
I do know a few others, but yet, on the whole, I agreed 
with him. Prince Albert had asked me to go to him on 
Saturday at two o'clock, so that I might try his organ 
before I left England. I found him alone, and, as we 
were walking away, the Queen came in, also alone, in a 
simple morning dress. * * * I begged that the 
Prince would first play me something, so that, as I said, 
I might boast about it in Germany; and he played a 
chorale, by heart, with the pedals, so charmingly and 



109 

clearly, and correctly, that it would have done credit to 
any professional. * * * Then it was my turn, and I 
began my Chorus from St. Paul, 'How Lovely Are the 
Messengers.' Before I got to the end of the first verse 
they both joined in the chorus; and all the time Prince 
Albert managed the stops for me so cleverly — first a 
flute, at the forte the great organ, at the D major part of 
the whole; then he made a lovely diminuendo with the 
stops, and so on to the end of the piece, and all by heart, 
that I was really quite enchanted. * * * The Queen 
asked if I had written any new songs, and said she was 
very fond of singing my published ones. 'You should 
sing one to him/ said Prince Albert; and, after a little 
begging, she said she would try the "Fruhlingslied" in 
B flat, 'if it is still here,' she added, 'for all my music is 
packed up for Claremont.' Prince Albert went to look 
for it, but came back saying it was already packed. 
* * * The servants were sent after it, without suc- 
cess; at last the Queen went herself, and, while she was 
gone, Prince Albert said to me: 'She begs you will ac- 
cept this present as a remembrance,' and gave me a little 
case with a beautiful ring, on which is engraved — 'V. R., 
1842.' 

"Then the Queen came back, and said: 'Lady 

is gone, and has taken all my things with her. It really 
is most annoying.' I then begged that I might not be 
made to suffer for the accident, and hoped she would 
sing another song. After some consultation with her 
husband, he said: 'She will sing you something of 
Gluck's. * * * We proceeded to the Queen's sit- 
ting-room, where there was a piano. The Duchess of 
Kent came in, and, while they were all talking, I rum- 



110 

maged about amongst the music, and soon discovered 
my first set of songs. So, of course, I begged her rather 
to sing one of those than the Gluck, to which she kindly 
consented; and which did she choose? — 'Schoner und 
Schoner Schmuckt SichP — sang it quite charmingly in 
strict time and tune, and with very good execution 
* * * the last G I have never heard better or purer, 
or more natural, from any amateur. Then, I was obliged 
to confess that Fanny had written the song (which I 
found very hard, but pride must have a fall), and begged 
her to sing one of my own also. If I would give her 
plenty of help, she would gladly try, she said; and then 
she sang the Pilgerspruch, 'Las Dich Nur,' really quite 
faultlessly, and with charming feeling and expression. I 
thought to myself, one must not pay too many compli- 
ments on such an occasion, so I merely thanked her a 
great many times, upon which she said: 'Oh, if I only 
had not been so frightened ; generally, I have such a long 
breath.' Then I praised her heartilv and with the best 
conscience in the world; for just that part with the long 
G at the close she had done so well, taking the three 
following and connecting notes in the same breath, as 
one seldom hears it done; and therefore it amused me 
doubly that she herself should have begun about it. 

"After this Prince Albert sang the Arondte-lied, 'Es 
1st Ein Schmitter'; and then he said I must play him 
something before I went, and gave me as themes the 
chorale which he had played on the organ, and the song 
he had just sung. If everything had gone as usual, I 
ought to have improvised most dreadfully badly, for it 
is almost always like that with me when I want it to go 
well — and then I should have gone away vexed the whole 
morning. But — just as if I was to keep nothing but the 



Ill 

pleasantest, most charming- recollection of it — I never 
improvised better. I was in the best mood for it, and 
played a long time, and enjoyed it myself; so that be- 
tween the two themes I brought in the two songs which 
the Queen had sung, naturally enough; and it went off 
so easily that I would gladly not have stopped; and they 
followed me with so much intelligence and attention that 
I felt more at ease than I ever did in improvising to an 
audience. She said several times she hoped I would soon 
come to England again, and pay them a visit; and then I 
took leave." The Queen, it may be added, always took 
a deep interest in Mendelssohn's work and career, and 
a marble bust of him has been placed by her command 
in the corridor at Windsor Castle. 

A visit to Belgium and a meeting with some of the 
French Royal Family had been proposed for the Autumn 
of 1842, but the melancholy death of the Duke of Or- 
leans, brother of the Queen of the Belgians, entirely dis- 
arranged all these plans, and a short tour in Scotland 
was arranged at the conclusion of the session. Parlia- 
ment was prorogued by the Queen in person on the 12th 
of August. Her Majesty, in a speech, referred to the re- 
verses sustained by the army of the westward of the 
Indus, and to the subsequent defense of Tellahabad, and, 
in touching on home affairs, which were in a danger- 
ous condition, particularly at Manchester, where riot- 
ing had assumed formidable proportions, she said: 
"There are, I trust, indications of gradual recovery from 
that depression which has affected many branches of 
manufacturing industry, and has exposed large classes 
of my people to privation and sufferings, which have 
caused me the deepest concern. You will, I am confi-. 
dent, be actuated on your return to your several conn- 



112 

ties, by the same enlightened zeal for the public interests 
vyhich you have manifested during the discharge of your 
Parliamentary duties ; and will do your utmost to encour- 
age by your example, and active exertions, that spirit 
of order and submission to the law which is essential 
to the public happiness, and without which there can 
be no enjoyment of the fruits of peaceful industry, and 
no advance in the career of social improvement." 

On the 29th of August the Queen and Prince Albert, 
attended by the Duchess of Norfolk and Lord Morton, 
with other members of their households, embarked at 
Woolwich in the Royal George, commanded by Lord 
Adolphus Fit^larence. The yacht, in tow of a steamer, 
was saluted on reaching Tilbury Fort, and passed along 
the coast, welcomed everywhere by demonstrations of 
loyalty. About one a. m., on the 1st of September, the 
royal squadron came to anchor in Aberlady Bay. Short- 
ly after eight, Her Majesty landed at Granton pier, and 
proceeded at once to Dalkeith Palace, the home of the 
Duke of Buccleuch; escorted through Edinburgh by the 
Duke, and the Archers of the Royal Body Guard. On 
the 3d, the Queen made her public entry into the Scot- 
tish capital, escorted by the Inniskilling Dragoons. At 
the Canongate the Body Guard of Archers joined the 
procession, the 53rd Regiment guarding the line of route. 
At the barriers which had been erected near the Ex- 
change, the Lord Provost, accompanied by the members 
of the Council, in their robes of office, presented the keys 
of the city, which were returned by Her Majesty with 
the words: "I return the keys of the city with perfect 
confidence into the safe keeping of the Lord Provost, 
Magistrates, and Council." At the Castle gate the Queen 
was received by Sir Niel Douglas, commanding the 



113 

forces, and, alighting from the carriage, was conducted 
through the ancient fortress, where she inspected the 
various objects of interest, noticing particularly Mons 
Meg, and the ancient regalia of the Scottish Kingdom, 
deposited in the Crown Jewel Office. In her Journal 
the Queen writes : "The view from both batteries is splen- 
did, like a panorama in extent. We saw from them 
Heriot's Hospital, a beautiful old building, built in the 
time of James by a jeweler, whom Sir Walter Scott has 
made famous in his 'Fortunes of Nigel." After this we 
again got into the carriages, and proceeded in the same 
way as before, the pressure of the crowd being really 
quite alarming. Both I and Albert were quite terrified 
for the Archer's Guard, who had very hard work of it; 
but they were of the greatest use. They all carry a bow 
in one hand, and have their arrows tuck through their 
belts. Unfortunately, as soon as we were out of Edin- 
burgh, it began to rain, and continued raining the whole 
afternoon without interruption. We reached Dalmeny, 
Lord Rosebery's, at two o'clock. The park is beautiful, 
with the trees growing down to the sea." 

On the 5th the Queen held a Drawing-room in the gal- 
lery of Dalkeith Palace. Holyrood House was not avail- 
able for this State ceremony, on account of a dangerous 
fever lately prevalent in the vicinity. The Drawing-room 
was very numerously attended, and before it Her Majesty 
received and responded to addresses from the Lord Pro- 
vost and the Magistrates, from the Scottish Church, and 
from the L^niversities of St. Andrew's, Glasgow and Edin- 
burgh. On the 6th the Duke of Buccleuch's royal guests 
left Dalkeith, and, crossing from Queensferry into Fife- 
shire, proceeded to Dupplin Castle, where they lunched 
with the Earl of Kinnoull, on their way to Scone Palace, 



114 

the seat of the Earl of Mansfield, where they dined and 
slept. Next morning, after inscribing their names in the 
Guildry books of the City of Perth, the last royal signa- 
tures in which were those of James VI. and Charles L, 
the Queen and Prince started for Taymouth, the seat of 
the Marquis of Breadalbane. On the ioth of September, 
after planting trees as a memorial of their visit, they left 
Taymouth, and were rowed for 16 miles up Loch Tay to 
Auchmore, whence they journeyed by Crieff to Drum- 
mond Castle, and there they were received by Lord and 
Lady Willoughby D'Eresby. Here, on the 12th, the 
Prince shot his first stag. On the 13th a visit was paid to 
Stirling, and, after a journey of 65 miles, Dalkeith was 
again reached. The last day of this visit, the first of many 
subsequently paid to the Northern Kingdom, was spent 
in seeing Roslyn Chapel and Hawthornden. Leaving 
Dalkeith, early on the morning of September the 15th, 
and embarking on board the Trident, a steamer belong- 
ing to the General Steam Navigation Company, the 
Queen and Prince reached Woolwich Dockyard on the 
morning of the 17th, and arrived at Windsor shortly after 
noon. 

Writing on the next day to the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha, 
Prince Albert thus records his impressions of the coun- 
try: "Scotland has made a most favourable impression 
upon us both. The country is full of beauty and of a s e- 
vere and grand character; perfect for sport of all kinds, 
and the air remarkably pure and light in comparison with 
what we have here. The people are more natural, and 
marked by that honesty and sympathy which always dis- 
tinguishes the inhabitants of mountainous countries, who 
live far away from towns. There is, moreover, no coun- 
try where historical traditions are preserved with such 



115 

fidelity, or to the same extent. Every spot is connected 
with some interesting historical fact, and with most of 
these Sir Walter Scott's accurate descriptions have made 
us familiar." Before quitting Scotland, the Queen had 
expressed her own gratification at the heartiness of her 
reception, in a letter to Lord Aberdeen: "The Queen 
cannot leave Scotland without a feeling of regret that 
hr visit on the present occasion could not be further pro- 
longed. Her Majesty fully expected to witness the loy- 
alty and attachment of her Scottish subjects; but the de- 
votion and enthusiasm evinced in every quarter, and by 
all ranks, have produced an impression on the mind of 
Her Majesty which can never be effaced." 

On the ioth of November, the Queen and Prince Al~ 
bert, with the royal children, left Windsor for Walmer 
Castle, near Deal, the official residence of the Lord War- 
den of the Cinque Ports, which had been placed at their 
disposal by the Duke of Wellington. Here they were 
received by His Grace, and enjoyed the sea breezes till 
the 3rd of December. At all the places on their journey 
through Kent, particularly at Canterbury, the travelers 
were received with every demonstration of loyalty and 
affection. 

On the 23rd of November, a special messenger from 
Downing Street brought dispatches containing the wel- 
come news of the recapture of Ghuznee and Cabul, the 
defeat of Akbar Khan, and the liberation of his captives. 
On the same day the Queen heard, with much delight, of 
the Peace that had been concluded with China, on terms 
that afforded a new opening for commercial enterprise, 
and gave a fresh stimulus to the trade of the manufactur- 
ing districts, where want of employment had caused wide- 
spread suffering and discontent, 



116 

On the 2nd of February, 1843, Parliament assembled. 
For the first time since her accession, the Quen was un- 
able to open it in person. On the 25th of April, Her 
Majesty's third child and second daughter was born at 
four a. m., Prince Albert and the Lord Steward, the Earl 
of Liverpool, being present. On the same day, at Pem- 
broke Dockyard, took place the launch of Her Majesty's 
yacht the Victoria and Albert, which was then looked 
upon as one of the most beautiful steamers afloat, and 
has ever since been the favourite vessel of the Queen. 
The infant Princess was christened on the 2nd of June> in 
the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. The sponsors 
were the King of Hanover, represented by the Duke of 
Cambridge; the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and 
Gotha, represented by the Hereditary Grand Duke of 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz; the Princess of Hohenlohe Lan- 
genburg, represented by the Duke of Kent, and the Prin- 
cess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester. The rite was per- 
formed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the infant 
received the name of Alice Maud Mary. 

On the 29th of June the Queen, accompanied by Prince 
Albert and the King and Queen of the Belgians, visited 
Westminster Hall to inspect the prize cartoons prepared 
for the decoration of the new Houses of aPrliament, 
which were then exhibited to the public. This exhibition 
was the result of the labours of the Royal Commission 
on the Fine Arts, of which the Prince was President. 
The execution of the cartoons in fresco has unfortunately 
not been successful ; the artists were not familiar with the 
peculiar conditions of the technical process of the work, 
and little now remains to be seen of their designs. The 
Queen and the Prince showed their own personal interest 
in this little-practiced method of decoration by erecting 



117 

a pavilion in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, the 
walls of which were covered with designs in fresco by 
Eastlake, Landseer, Maclise, Uwins, Leslie, Stanfield, and 
others. In a leter written at the time, Uwins remarks: 
"History, Literature, Science, and Art seem to have lent 
their stores to form the mind of the Prince. He is really 
an accomplished man, and, withal, possesses so much 
good sense and consideration, that, taken apart from his 
playfulness and good-humour, he might pass for an aged 
and experienced person, instead of a youth of two or 
three-and-twenty. The Queen, too, is full of intelligence, 
her observations very acute, and her judgment matured 
apparently beyond her age. * * * Coming to us 
twice a day, unannounced and without attendants, en- 
tirely stript of all state and ceremony, courting conversa- 
tion, and desiring reason rather than obedience, they 
have gained our admiration and love. In many things 
they are an example to the age. They have breakfasted, 
heard morning prayers with the household in the private 
chapel, and are out some distance from the Palace talking 
to us in the summer-house before half-past nine o'clock — 
sometimes earlier. After the public duties of the day, and 
before their dinner, they come out again, evidently de- 
lighted to get away from the bustle of the world, to enjoy 
each other's society in the solitude of the garden." 

Shortly after the cartoon exhibition, the Court removed 
to Windsor, where, on the 26th of August, the Queen, in 
honor of the Prince's twenty-fourth birthday, gave an en- 
tertainment at Virginia Water. Two days later, the Queen 
and Prince traveled to Southampton. There they met 
the new yacht, Victoria and Albert, which conveyed them 
to Cowes Roads. Next day they visited Norris Castle 
and Appuldurcombe, and, again embarking, proceeded 



118 

to Dartmouth, Plymouth, and Falmouth, where loyal ad- 
dresses were presented. At Falmouth the Mayor, who 
was a Quaker, was permitted to keep his hat on in the 
royal presence. Thence the course was across the Chan- 
nel to the coast of France. 

The Queen had for some time been anxious to visit 
Louise Philippe and to make the acquaintance of Marie 
Amelie and their family, with whom the Queen had been 
long connected by the marriage of her uncle, King Leo- 
pold, with the Princess Louise of Orleans. A favourable 
opportunity now presented itself for a friendly visit, as 
the French Court was at the Chateau d'Eu, near Tre- 
port. In Lord Bloomfield's Reminiscences occurs the 
following story of an incident of the voyage: "I re- 
mained on deck a long time with Her Majesty, and she 
taught me to plait paper for bonnets, which was a fa- 
vourite occupation of the Queen. Lady Canning and I 
had settled ourselves in a very sheltered place, protected 
by the paddle-box; and, remarking what a comfortable 
spot we had chosen, Her Majesty sent for her camp-stool, 
and settled herself beside us, plaiting away most compos- 
edly, when suddenly we observed a commotion among 
the sailors, little knots of them talking together in a 
mysterious manner; first one officer came up to them, 
then another, looking embarrassed, and at that Lord 
Adolphus Fitzclarence was called. The Queen, much 
puzzled, asked what was the matter, and inquired wheth- 
er we were going to have a mutiny on board? Lord 
Adolphus laughed, but remarked that he really did not 
know what would happen unless Her Majesty would be 
graciously pleased to remove her seat. 'Move my seat/ 
said the Queen, 'why should I? What possible harm can 
I be doing here?' 'Well, ma'am,' said Lord Adolphus, 



119 

'the fact is Your Majesty is unwittingly closing up the 
door of the place where the grog tubs are kept, and so 
the men cannot have their grog.' 'Oh, very well/ said 
the Queen, 'I will move on condition that you bring me 
a glass of grog.' This was accordingly done, and after 
tasting it, the Queen said, T am afraid I can only make 
the same remark I did once before, that I think it would 
be very good if it were stronger.' This, of course, de- 
lighted the men, and the little incident caused much 
amusement on board." 

When the royal yacht arrived at Treport, King Louis 
Philippe came off in his barge to welcome his guest. The 
Queen in her Journal writes: "I felt at it came nearer 
and nearer, more and more agitated. At length it came 
close, and contained the King, Aumale, Montpensier, 
Augustus (Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and hus- 
band of Princess Clementine of Orleans), M. Guizot, 
Lord Cowley, and various officers and ministers. The 
good kind King was standing on the boat, and so impa- 
tient to get out that it was very difficult to prevent him, 
and to get him to wait till the boat was close enough. He 
got out and came up as quickly as possible and embraced 
me warmly. It was a fine and really affecting sight, and 
the emotion which it caused I shall never forget. The 
King expressed again and again how delighted he was 
to see me." As the Queen left her own yacht the Royal 
Standard was lowered from the masthead, and hoisted 
side by side with that of France on the King's barge. It 
was the first time they had floated together since the 
Field of the Cloth of Gold. On landing the Queen was 
escorted by the King up a somewhat steep stair to where 
the Queen Amelie with the Queen of the Belgians and 
other members of the Royal Family awaited their ap- 



120 

proach. After an interchange of cordial greetings and 
amid the firing of salutes and the shouts of the specta- 
tors, the royal cortege departed for the Chateau. In the 
evening a grand banquet was given. The Queen sat on 
the right of the King of the French, and on Her Majes- 
ty's right was the Prince de Joinville. Queen Amelie sat 
opposite the King, having Prince Albert on her right. 

Next day, being Sunday, was spent very quietly; the 
Queen had no chaplain with her, but prayers were read 
by one of the members of the suite. "At half-past two," 
the Queen records in her Journal, "the King and Queen 
came to fetch us and took us over the greater part of the 
chateau. The number of family pictures is quite enor- 
mous. The little chapel is beautiful, and full of painted 
windows and statues of saints, etc., quite a little bijou. 
It is the first Catholic chapel I have seen. There are 
numbers of pictures and reminiscences of Mademoiselle 
de Montpensier. She built part of the chateau, and 
there are some interior decorations still of her time. The 
rooms of the Queen, including a little cabinet de toilette, 
are charming. They contain many old family pictures, 
and pictures of their own family, and there are some of 
poor Chartres, when a child, the sight of which, we see, 
is heartrending to the dear, excellent Queen." 

On Monday, September the 4th, the Journal proceeds, 
"Up at half-past seven and breakfasted at eight. Good 
news from the children. The band of the 24th Regiment 
(Infanterie legere) played under my window, and ex- 
tremely well. ... At half-past ten the King and 
family came and fetched us to their delightful, cheerful 
breakfast. I sat between the King and Aumale. I feel 
so gay and happy with these dear people. . . . 
Later we saw M. Guizot, who came to express his great 



121 

joy at our visit. It seems to have done the greatest good, 
and to have caused the greatest satisfaction to the French. 
. . . I hear that I should have been most kindly re- 
ceived at Paris even. The French naval officers give this 
evening a banquet on board the Pluton to our naval of- 
ficers, and I trust that the 'haine pour les perfides An- 
glais' will cease." 

The great event of the day was a fete champetre at the 
Mont d'Orleans in the forest of Eu. About four o'clock 
the King, with Queen Victoria and the Queen of the 
French, with other ladies, drove up to the large tent, 
which was pitched on a spot commanding the finest view, 
and here the party lunched. Prince Albert, with other 
gentlemen, had already arrived on horseback. The Queen 
records: "I sat between the King and Queen. Poor Hel- 
ene (the widowed Duchess of Orleans) sat next the King; 
it was the first time she had sat at table with them 
since her terrible misfortune. . . . The King's live- 
liness and vivacity, and little impatiences, are my delight 
and amusement." After luncheon, the King, giving his 
arm to Queen Victoria, walked around the platform be- 
fore the tent; Prince Albert came next, with the Queen 
of the French, the rest of the company following. The 
large crowd which had assembled cheered the Royal par- 
ty with much enthusiasm. On the return to the chateau, 
after dinner, "There was," as the Queen notes, "very fine 
music by the artistes du Conservatoire. They played 
beautifully, particularly the things from Beethoven's sym- 
phonies." 

The next morning Prince Albert, accompanied by the 
Dukes of Aumale and Montpensier and others, was pres- 
ent at a review of the French cavalry regiment, the Cara- 
biniers, and afterwards of a regiment of the line, at the 



122 

Caserne de Montpensier. In the afternoon the whole 
party visited the church of Notre-Dame, and the crypt 
containing the monuments of the Counts of Artois and 
the Counts of Eu, the maternal ancestors of the King. 
On this day the King presented Queen Victoria with two 
splendid pieces of tapestry representing the chase of the 
Calydonian boar and the death of Meleager, which had 
been in hand at the Goeblins for thirty years and now 
form the principal decoration of Her Majesty's dining- 
room at Windsor. 

The next day there was another fete champetre in the 
forest, the scene being the Mont St. Catherine, and the 
dejeuner entirely al fresco, no tent having been pitched. 
"We came home," the Queen writes — "the evening love- 
ly — at half past six. After dinner we remained in a little 
room near the dining-room — as the galerie where we 
generally are was fitted up as un petit theatre. At a little 
after nine we went in. The little stage and orchestra were 
perfectly arranged and we were all seatd in rows of chairs 
one above the other. The pieces were all admirably per- 
formed. The first was Le Chateau de Ma Niece, in 
which Madame Mira acted delightfully; the second, 
L'Humoriste, in which Arnol sent us into fits of laugh- 
ter. . . . Thursday, September 7. At a quarter to 
six we got up, le coeur gros at the though we must leave 
this dear interesting family. At half-past six the King 
(who, with all the Princes, was in uniform) and the Queen 
and all the family came to fetch us to breakfast. Join- 
ville was already gone to Treport. I felt so sad to go. z\t 
half-past seven we went in the large State carriage, pre- 
cisely as we came the day we arrived, with the Princes 
riding, and the same escort. It was a lovely morning 
and many people out. We embarked in the King's fine 



123 

barge with great facility. ... At last the mauvais 
moment arrived, and we were obliged to take leave and 
with great regret. . . . We stood on the side of the 
paddle-box, and waited to see them pass by in a small 
steamer, which they had all got into, and the King 
waved his hand and called out 'Adieu! Adieu!' We set 
off before nine. ... At half-past three we got into 
the barge off Brighton, with Joinville, the ladies, Lord 
Aberdeen, and Mr. Tonchard. . . . When we ar- 
rived at the Pavilion, ew took Joinville up stairs with us, 
and he was very much struck with the strangeness of the 
building." 

A few days after their return the Queen and Prince Al- 
bert again embarked on their yacht; and landed at Ostend 
to pay a visit to the King and Queen of the Belgians. 
They remained in Belgium for nearly a week, visiting 
Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp. To the Prince 
the old masters of the Low Countries were a great de- 
light, and he afterwards formed the collection of their 
works since bequeathed to the National Gallery. After 
their return the Queen and Prince paid, in October, a 
visit to Cambridge, where, the next morning, the degree 
of LL. D. was conferred on the Prince. On the return 
journey to Windsor two days were spent at Wimpole, the 
seat of Lord Hardwicke. 

Before the close of the year other visits were paid. One 
to Sir Robert Peel at Drayton Manor gave the Prince an 
opportunity long desired of inspecting some of the chief 
manufactories of Birmingham. Another was paid to 
Chatsworth, where three days were spent, and a third to 
Belvoir. Of the visit to Birmingham, the Prince writes to 
Baron. Stockman "Sir James Graham and others had 
advised me strongly not to go, as the town is entirely in 



124 

the hands of the Chartists, and even the Radicals dare 
not show themselves in it. Nevertheless I was received 
with an indescribable enthusiasm. The people regarded 
the visit as a great proof of confidence, and did all they 
could to give assurance of their loyalty. In short, our 
excursion was one unbroken triumph." 

On the 29th of January, 1844, Prince Albert lost his 
father after a few days' illness. The sympathy of the 
Queen in his trial was one consolation. Writing to Baron 
Stockmar a few days afterwards, he mentions his sister- 
in-law Alexandrine as being, in the house of mourning at 
Coburg, "the consoling angel. Just such," he continues, 
"is Victoria to me, who feels and shares my grief, and is 
the treasure on which my whole existence rests. The rela- 
tion in which we stand to one another leaves nothing to 
desire. It is a union of heart and soul." The Queen, too, 
had her trial to bear. When Easter came and Parliament 
adjourned, the Prince left England, feeling that duty de- 
manded his presence in Coburg; since her marriage she 
had never been one day apart from him, and the sepa- 
ration was proportionately painful. 

In June, 1844, shortly after the Prince's safe return, the 
Queen received a visit from the Emperor of Russia. The 
Emperor at first took up his quarters at the Russian Em- 
bassy, but afterwards, on Her Majesty's pressing invita- 
tion, became the Queen's guest at Buckingham Palace. 
The object of this visit he stated in one of his interviews 
with Sir Robert Peel: "Years ago Lord Durham was 
sent to me, a man full of prejudices against me. By mere- 
ly coming to close quarters with me all his prejudices 
were driven clean out of him. This is what I hope by 
coming here to bring about with you, and with England 
generally. By personal intercourse I trust to annihilate 



125 



these prejudices, for I esteem England highly; but as to 
what the French say about me I care not." The Queen, 
writing on the nth of June to her uncle, thus records the 
personal impression made upon her by her visitor: "I 
will now give you my opinions and feelings on the sub- 
ject, which I may say are Albert's also. I was extremely 
against the visit, fearing the gene and bustle, and even at 
first I did not feel at all to like it; but by living in the 
same house together quietly and unrestrainedly (and this 
Albert, and with great truth, says is the advantage of 
these visits, that I not only see these great people, but 
know them), I got to know the Emperor and he to know 
me. There is much about him which I cannot help lik- 
ing, and I think his character is one which should be 
understood, and looked upon for once as it is. He is 
stern and severe, with strict principles of duty which 
nothing on earth will make him change. Politics and 
military concerns are the only things he takes great in- 
terest in; the arts and all softer occupations he does not 
care for; but he is sincere, I am certain— sincere even in 
his most despotic acts — from a sense that it is the only 
way to govern. ... He was not only civil, but 
extremely kind to us both, and spoke in the highest praise 
of dearest Albert to Sir Robert Peel, saying he wished 
any Prince in Germany had as much ability and sense. 
He is not happy, and that melancholy which is visible in 
the countenance made us sad at times." 

The hearty reception given to the Emperor by the 
Court, and by the whole nation, caused some irritation in 
the political circles of France. It even seemed at one 
time as if the projected visit of King Louis Philippe 
might be interfered with for this reason ; and the Queen, 



126 

in the letter to her uncle, an extract from which has been 
already quoted, writes: "I hope you will persuade the 
King to come all the same in September. Our motives 
and politics are not to be exclusive, but to be on good 
terms with all — and why should we not? We make no 
secret of it." 

This irritation, and the estrangement between the two 
countries, were, however, intensified at this moment by 
the harsh measures adopted by the French officials to 
Queen Pomare in Tahiti. The extreme gravity of the 
situation caused much anxiety and suffering to our 
Queen, who was at the time in need of quiet and repose, 
as on the 6th of August her second son was born. In the 
first letter she was able to write after her confinement, she 
says to King Leopold: " The only thing almost to mar 
our happiness is the heavy and threatening cloud which 
hangs over our relations with France, and which, I assure 
you, distresses and alarms us sadly. The whole nation 
here is very angry. . . God grant all may come right, 
and I am still of good cheer." In September, when all 
disputes had been satisfactorily arranged, the Queen 
again wrote to her uncle: " The good ending of our dif- 
ficulties with France is an immense blessing; but it is 
really and truly necessary that you and those in Paris 
should know that the danger was imminent. . . . 
We must try and prevent these difficulties for the 
future." 

The infant Prince who had appeared at this critical 
moment was christened at Windsor on the 6th of Sep- 
tember, 1843, receiving the names of Alfred Ernest 
Albert. At this ceremony the Prince of Prussia was 
present, afterwards the first Emperor of Germany and 



127 

father-in-law of the Princess Royal. Three days later, 
the Queen and Prince with their eldest child left Windsor 
for Scotland. Landing at Dundee, they took up their 
residence at Blair Athol, which had been placed at their 
disposal by Lord Glenlyon, subsequently Duke of Athole. 
There they arrived on the nth, and stayed till the end of 
the month, returning to Windsor, on the 3rd of October, 
to receive the King of the French. The King landed on 
the 8th at Portsmouth, where he was received by Prince 
Albert and the Duke of Wellington, who accompanied 
him to Windsor. The Queen in her Journal writes of her 
guest: " I never saw anybody more pleased or more 
amused in looking at every picture and bust. He knew 
every bust and everything about everybody here in a 
most wonderful way. Such a memory, such activity! 
. . . He is enchanted with the castle, and repeated to 
me again and again (as did also all his people) how de- 
lighted he was to be here, how he feared that what he 
had so earnestly wished since I came to the throne would 
not take place." 

On the 9th of October the King was invested by Her 
Majesty with the Order of the Garter, an honor which 
had been conferred on His Majesty's predecessors, 
Charles X. and Louis XVIII., and in earlier years on 
Francis I., Henry II., and Charles IX. As the Queen, 
on her visit to France, had not entered Paris, it was not 
thought advisable that the King of the French should 
visit London. But on the 12th of October the King re- 
ceived an address from the Lord Mayor and Corporation 
of London, who came to Windsor in State for the pur- 
pose. The reply of the King to their address had a great 
effect on English feeling. " The union of France with 
England," he said, " is of great importance to both na- 



128 

tions, but not from any wish of aggrandizement on the 
part of either. Our view should be peace, while we 
leave every other country in possession of those blessings 
which it has pleased Divine Providence to bestow upon 
them. France has nothing to ask of England, and Eng- 
land has nothing to ask of France, but cordial union." 

Soon after the termination of the King's visit, on 
October 28th, the Queen opened the new Royal Ex- 
change. The Queen, describing the ceremony to her 
uncle, writes : " I seldom remember being so pleased with 
any public show, and my bloved Albert was most en- 
thusiastically received by the people. . . . The 
articles in the papers, too, are most kind and gratifying. 
They say no sovereign was ever more loved than I am (I 
am bold enough to say), and this because of our happy 
domestic home, and the good example it presents." 

This feeling was not confined to London. Northamp- 
ton, stronghold of Radicalism though it was, welcomed 
the Queen with loyal enthusiasm, when, during the next 
month, she passed through the city on the way to Bur- 
leigh. A similar welcome greeted her when, in the early 
part of the next year, 1845, sne an d the Prince paid visits, 
first to Stowe, the seat of the Duke of Buckingham, and 
afterwards to Strathfieldsaye, where the Duke of Welling- 
ton realized his cherished wish to entertain his Sovereign 
under his own roof. Of this visit Mr. Anson writes : "The 
Duke takes the Queen in to dinner, and sits by Her 
Majesty, and after dinner gets up and says, 'With your 
Majesty's permission I give the health of Her Majesty'; 
and then the same for the Prince. They then adjourn 
to the library, and the Duke sits on the sofa by the 
Queen for the rest of the evening, until eleven o'clock, 
the Prince and the gentlemen being scattered about in 



129 

the library or the billiard room, which opens into it. In a 
large conservatory beyond, the band of the Duke's* 
Grenadier regiment plays throughout the evening." 

The Queen and Prince returned to Windsor on the 4th 
of February for the reassembling of Parliament, which 
was opened by Her Majesty in person. In the Royal 
speech, mention was made of the visits of the Emperor of 
Russia and the King of the French, and the more cordial 
relations established with the latter nation; the success of 
recent measures for supplying the deficiencies in the pub- 
lic revenue was noticed; the probable increase of the navy 
estimates owing to the progress of steam navigation was 
alluded to; and the policy of extending the facilities of 
academical education in Ireland was recommended. Not- 
withstanding the state of political tension, on the 6th of 
June the Queen gave her second costume ball at Buck- 
ingham Palace. The guests all wore the dress of the 
period of George II.; it was, to quote Greville, "most 
brilliant and amusing." 

When the King of the French left England he was ac- 
companied by the Queen and Prince Albert so far as 
Portsmouth. This gave them an opportunity of inspect- 
ing the estate of Osborne, which had been brought to 
their notice by Sir Robert Peel, who knew their wish to 
have a seaside residence more convenient and private 
than the obsolete Pavilion at Brighton. The inspection 
was satisfactory, and negotiations for the purchase of the 
estate were concluded in March, 1845. Adjoining land 
has since been added, so that the whole estate now ex- 
tends over 2,000 acres. The old house not having suf- 
ficient accommodation for the Royal household, a new 
building was erected, the first stone of which was laid 
in the following June. The laying out and planting of the 



130 

grounds, and the working, of the home farm, were 
sources of endless delight to the Prince. Writing at the 
time to Baron Stockmar, he says: "Our property pleases 
us better and better every day, and is a most appropriate 
place of residence for us. It gives us the opportunity of 
inspecting the experimental squadron (which consists of 
five sail of the line, four frigates and several steam ves- 
sels), and of having it manoeuvred before us. Since the 
war no such fleet has been assembled on the English 
coast, and it has this additional interest, that every pos- 
sible new invention and discovery in the naval depart- 
ment will be tried." 

On the 9th of August, 1845, tne Queen in person 
prorogued Parliament, and the same evening Her 
Majesty and the Prince started from Woolrich in the 
Royal Yacht for Antwerp, on their way to pay a visit to 
the King of Prussia, who met his Royal guests at Aix-la- 
Chapelle, and traveled with them to Cologne. From that 
city the Queen visited Bonn, where so much of Prince 
Albert's youth was spent. Thence they passed up the 
Rhine, and after spending one day at the King's Castle 
of Stotzenfels, on the 19th entered Coburg. Here they 
were reecived by the Duke Ernest, and by the King and 
Queen of the Belgians and the Duchess of Kent. Dur- 
ing their stay at Coburg and Queen and Prince were 
lodged at the Rosenau, occupying the room in which the 
Prince had been born, and on the 26th keeping the 
Prince's birthday. On the next morning, "with heavy 
hearts," the Queen and he left the well-loved place for 
R-heinhardtsbrunn. This, next to the Rosenau, pleased 
the Queen more than any of the places she had visited, 
and here she would have gladly stayed longer; but time 
did not permit. After a few days' sojourn at Gotha, the 



131 

journey homeward was continued by the Rhine to 
Antwerp, where the Victoria and Albert met the Royal 
party. The yacht left the Scheldt on the 7th of Septem- 
ber, and next morning arrived off Treport, where the 
King and Queen of the French received them as their 
guests for one night at the Chateau d'Eu. 

The winter of 1845-6 was an anxious and critical time. 
The appearance of the potato disease in Ireland seemed 
to foreshadow a famine, and the consequent necessity of 
a settlement of the Corn Law question agitated the whole 
of the political world. During the progress of the struggle 
between the rival parties the Queen, on the 25th of May, 
1846, gave birth to her third daughter, who, on the 25th 
of July, was christened Helena Augusta Victoria, her 
sponsors being the Duchess of Orleans, represented by 
the Duchess of Kent, the Hereditary Grand Duke of 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and the Duchess of Cambridge. 

The Court removed from Buckingham Palace to Os- 
borne on the 7th of August, and on the 18th the Queen 
and Prince, with some of their children, started for a 
cruise in the Victoria and Albert. They visited Wey- 
mouth, Mount Edgcumbe, and the Channel Islands, with 
which they were much delighted. They also saw the 
Land's End and St. Michael's Mount, and landing at 
Fowey, inspected the Castle and Mine of Restormel. Re- 
turning to the Isle of Wight on the 10th of September, 
they took possession a few days later of their new home 
at Osborne. In the same autumn they stayed with 
Queen Adelaide at Cassiobury, and thence passed to Hat- 
field, where they met the Duke of Wellington, Lord John 
Russell, and Lord Melbourne, who, since his retirement 
from public life, had been very rarely seen by the Queen. 
Later in the year a visit was, paid by the Queen and 



132 

Prince to the Duke of Norfolk at Arundel. Christmas 
was spent at Osborne. 

On February the 12th, 1847, the Chancellorship of the 
University of Cambridge became vacant by the death of 
the Duke of Northumberland, and on the 27th Prince 
Albert was elected to the vacant post, to the great 
gratification of the Queen, who, writing to her uncle, 
says: "Of course you have seen that Albert (after having 
declined, so that he had nothing to do with the un- 
seemly contest) has been elected Chancellor of Cam- 
bridge. He could not do otherwise than accept it. We 
have been gratified at the great kindness and respect 
shown towards Albert by such numbers of distinguished 
people." The public installation of the Prince took place 
in July, when he was accompanied by the Queen to Cam- 
bridge, where they stayed at the Lodge of Trinity Col- 
lege. On the day of installation at the Senate House, the 
Queen was received at the door by the Prince and con- 
ducted by him to her place; then after the giving of the 
prizes, the Installation Ode, written for the occasion by 
Wordsworth, the Poet Laureate, was performed; con- 
certs, receptions, and a levee were held, and after a most 
successful visit in beautiful weather, the Court returned 
to Buckingham Palace. 

On the 23d of July the Queen in person prorogued 
Parliament in the recently-completed House of Lords, 
and on the nth of August the Queen and Prince, who 
had gone from London to the Isle of Wight, left Os- 
borne, with their two eldest children, on the Royal yacht 
for a journey to Scotland, where they proposed to stay 
at Ardverikie, a shooting lodge placed at their disposal by 
Lord Abercorn, who rented it from Lord Henry Ben- 
tinck. On the way the Scilly Isles were visited, then 



133 

Milford Haven and the Isle of Man, whence the squad- 
ron passed to the West Coast of Scotland, and up the 
Clyde to Dumbarton; and, passing the Kyles of Bute, ip 
Loch Fyne to Inverary, where the Queen was received 
by the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in true Highland 
fashion. Here the Queen saw for the first time the 
young Marquis of Lome, just two years old, afterwards 
to become her son-in-law. On leaving Inverary, Staffa 
and Iona were visited, and at Fort William Prince Al- 
bert went to Glencoe. From Fort William the whole 
party journeyed by land to Loch Laggan, by which Ard- 
verikie is built. It was then remarkable for the drawings 
made on the walls by Sir E. Landseer, which unfortu- 
nately were destroyed later by fire. After a month's siay 
at this delightful spot, details of which are to be found 
in the Queen's "Leaves from the Journal of Our Life 
in the Highlands," the Royal party left for the south 
on the 17th of September, and landing at the new har- 
bor of Fleetwood, after a short stay at the Isle of Man, 
returned to London. 

Christmas was spent at Windsor, and with the new 
year came the beginning of the great outbreak of revo- 
lution which spread over all the Continent. Writing to 
Stockmar on the 27th of February, 1848, Prince Albert 
says: "The posture of affairs is bad; European war is : t 
our doors; France is ablaze in every quarter; Louis 
Phillipe is wandering about in disguise; so is the Queen. 
. . . Guizot is a prisoner, the republic declared, the 
army ordered to the frontier, the incorporation of Bel- 
gium and the Rhenish provinces proclaimed. Here 
they refuse to pay the income tax, and attack the Minis- 
try; Victoria will be confined in a few days; our poor 
good grandmamma (the Duchess Dowager of Gotha) is 



134 

taken from this world." The King and Queen of the 
French eventually landed at Newhaven, and were joined 
at Claremont by the other members of their family; here 
they passed the remainder of their lives. Amid the gloom 
of these events, a Princess was born at Buckingham Pal- 
ace on the 1 8th of March, and was christened Louise 
Caroline Alberta on the 14th of the following May by 
the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Throughout these stormy and troublous times the 
Queen continued in excellent health and spirits. Writ- 
ing on the 4th of April to King Leopold, Her Majesty 
says: "From the first I heard all that passed; and my 
only thoughts and talk were politics. But I never was 
calmer and quieter, or less nervous. Great events make 
me calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves." 

The leaders of the Chartist movement in Loudon at 
this time were endeavoring to imitate the revolutions in 
Continental States. A huge demonstration was planned 
for the 10th of April, 1848, when they announced their 
intention to assemble on Kennington Common to the 
number of 150,000, and to present to Parliament a mon- 
ster petition, which, it was stated, had been signed by 
more than 5,000,000 sympathizers. The magnitude of 
the assembly, and the threats of their leaders, were met 
by the Government with well-devised preparations. The 
Bank and other public buildings were put in a state of de- 
fense, and more than 170,000 civilians enrolled themselves 
as special constables, among the number being Prince 
Louis Napoleon, afterwards Emperor. The Duke of 
Wellington, as Commander-in-Chief, disposed the troops 
at his command in readiness for any real disturbance, 
should it arrive, and in conversation at Lord Palmerston's 
house, said to Chevalier Bunsen: "Yes, we have taken 



135 

our measures; but not a soldier or piece of artillery shall 
you see, unless in actual need. Should the force of law, 
the mounted or unmounted police, be overpowered or 
in danger, then the troops shall advance — then is their 
time! But it is not fair on either side to call them in to 
do the work of police; the military must not be con- 
founded with the police, nor merged in the police." 
Owing to the admirable precautions taken for the public 
safety, the demonstration was a complete and ignomin- 
ious failure. The Queen and Prince, under the advice 
of the Ministry, had left London for Osborne, whence, on 
the following day the Queen addressed to the Duke of 
Wellington the autograph letter which has, by permis- 
sion, been reproduced opposite page 104. In Ireland, 
at the same time, the forces of sedition were particularly 
active; but the timely arrest of the leaders, and the sen- 
tence of John Mitchell to transportation for fourteen 
years, effectually checked any serious insurrection. 

On the 5th of September, 1848, when Her Majesty pro- 
rogued Parliament in person, she was able to say: "I have 
had the satisfaction of being able to preserve peace for 
my own dominions, and to maintain our domestic tran- 
quility. The strength of our institutions has been tried, 
and has not been found wanting. I have studied to pre- 
serve the people committed to my charge in the enjoy- 
ment of that temperate freedom which they so justly 
value. My people, on their side, feel too sensibly the 
advantages of order and security, to allow the promoters 
of pillage and confusion any chance of success in their 
wicked designs." 

On the 8th of the same month the Queen saw for the 
first time Balmoral, which had been rented from the Earl 
of Aberdeen on the recommendation of Sir James Clark. 



136 

The site and scenery delighted both the Queen and 
Prince, who soon became possessors of the whole do- 
main, which they afterwards enlarged, till it has become 
one of the finest estates in the Highlands, and the 
Queen's favorite abode. In the Queen's "Leaves from 
the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands," she gives 
her impression of the place: "We walked out and went 
up to the top of the wooded hill opposite our windows, 
where there is a cairn, and up which there is a pretty 
winding path. The view from here, looking down upon 
the house, is charming. * * * It was so calm and so 
solitary, it did one gooa as one gazed around; and the 
pure mountain air was most refreshing. All seemed to 
breathe freedom and peace, and to make one forget the 
world and its sad turmoils. The scenery is wild, and yet 
not desolate; and everything looks much more prosper- 
ous and cultivated than at Laggan. Then the soil is 
delightfully dry. We walked beside the Dee, a beautiful, 
rapid stream which is close behind the house. The view 
of the hills towards Invercauld is exceedingly fine. In 
the first deer drive in the Balloch Buie forest, the Prince 
shot a fine royal stag; and the keepers said 'it was Her 
Majesty's coming out that brought good luck.' I was 
supposed to have a lucky foot, of which the Highlanders 
think a great deal." 

Christmas of this year was spent at Windsor, and here, 
a few days later, was given the first of the series of the- 
atrical performances which was continued at intervals 
till 1861. Her Majesty had always delighted in the dram- 
atic art, and was a constant visitor to the theatres as well 
as the Opera in London, and the playbill of very perform- 
ance she has honored with her presence has been care- 
fully preserved. The performances at Windsor Castle 



137 

took place during the stay of the Court in the Winter 
season, and were given in the large room on the north 
side known as the Rubens Room, in which a stage of 
fairly ample dimensions could be erected. The first per- 
formance was "The Merchant of Venice," in which Mr. 
and Mrs. Charles Kean appeared as Shylock and Portia. 
Mr. Kean continued to direct trie entertainments till he 
gave up his London management in 1857, and under his 
direction thirty-five performances were given. After his 
retirement, Mr. W. B. Donne, Her Majesty's Examiner 
of Plays, was intrusted with the direction, and under him 
ten more evenings were devoted to dramatic representa- 
tions. Plays of Shakespeare were performed on fourteen 
occasions. The last of this series of entertainments was 
on the 31st of July, 1861. The next Christmas was the 
time of the saddest sorrow in the life of the Queen, and 
it was not till thirty years had passed away that a stage 
was erected and that the Queen again witnessed a play 
in the Castle. In March, 1891, the Savoy Theatre Com- 
pany performed "The Gondoliers." The stage was not 
as formerly in the Rubens Room, but was fitted up at 
one end of the Waterloo Gallery, which afforded more 
ample accommodation. Since then, at various times, 
other performances have taken place, and the Queen has 
had the opportunity of seeing the most eminent of the 
actors and actresses of the day. Besides these profes- 
sional performances, the members of the Royal Family, 
many of whom have inherited the Queen's love of drama, 
have organized in the comparative privacy of Osborne 
and Balmoral, entertainments of a similar character, car- 
ried out with much care and completeness. 

On the 26. of February, 1849, the Queen again person- 
ally opened Parliament. The outlook was clouded by 



138 

the continued distress in Ireland and by a revolt in the 
Punjab; the latter was speedily quelled, but the former 
still gave ground for serious anxiety. It had long been 
the wish of the Queen and Prince to visit Ireland, and it 
was hoped that the sympathy of their sovereign, marked 
by her presence among her suffering subjects, might 
have a cheering influence. In August, therefore, the 
Queen and Prince, with their four children, embarked 
at Cowes on the Royal yacht, under an escort of four 
steamers, and landed at the Cove of Cork. At the mo- 
ment when the Queen stepped for the first time on Irish 
shore, the sun burst in splendor from the clouds, and to 
a deputation of the townsmen Her Majesty communi- 
cated her pleasure that the town of Cove, in commemora- 
tion of her visit, should henceforth bear the name of 
Queenstown. Having re-embarked, the Royal party pro- 
ceeded up the river to Cork, where their reception was 
most enthusiastic. The Queen in her Journal specially 
notes, "The beauty of the women is very remarkable and 
struck us much; such beautiful dark eyes and hair, and 
such fine teeth; almost every thind woman was pretty, 
and some remarkably so." 

On the morning of August the 5th, the squadron 
dropped down the river, and made direct for Dublin, ar- 
riving at Kingstown the next afternoon. Of this ap- 
proach to the capital of Ireland the Queen says: "It is a 
splendid harbor, and was full of ships of every kind. The 
wharf, where the landing place was prepared, was dense- 
ly crowded; and, altogether, it was a noble and stirring 
scene. It was just seven when we entered, and the set- 
ting sun lit up the country, the fine buildings, and the 
whole scene with a glowing light, which was truly beau- 
tiful. We were soon surrounded by boats, and the en- 



139 

thusiasm and excitement of the people were extreme." 
The Queen landed on 6th of August, and, passing 
through Dublin to the Vice- Regal Lodge in the Phoenix 
Park, was again highly gratified with her reception. "It 
was," as she records in her Journal, "a wonderful and 
striking scene, such masses of human beings, so enthu- 
siastic, so excited, yet such perfect order maintained; 
then the number of troops, the different bands stationed 
at certain distances, the waving of hats and handker- 
chiefs, the bursts of welcome which rent the air — all made 
it a never-to-be-forgotten scene, when one reflected how 
lately the country had been in open revolt and under mar- 
tial law." On the 8th the Queen held a Court and Levee 
at the Castle, at which addresses were received from the 
Lord Mayor and Corporation, the University, the clergy, 
and others, and two thousand of the Irish gentry were 
presented. Next morning was devoted to a review, and 
in the evening the Queen again visited the Castle to hold 
a drawing-room, at which one thousand six hundred 

ladies were presented. After a short visit to Carton, the 
seat of the Duke of Leinster, Her Majesty re-embarked 
at Kingstown. It is recorded that, as the yacht ap- 
proached the end of the pier where the crowd was dens- 
est, the Queen ran along the deck and, mounting the 
paddle-box to join Prince Albert, took his arm, and 
waved her hand to the people on the piers. The speed 
of the vessel was slackened, and the Royal Standard was 
lowered five times in courtesy to the cheering thousands 
on shore. 

After a rough passage Belfast was reached, where the 
reception was as loyal and hearty as in Cork and Dub- 
lin. In her progress through the city Her Majesty wit- 
nessed with much interest the exhibition of the flax and 



140 

linen manufacture. In the afternoon the Royal party 
returned down the Lough, intending to make for the 
Firth of Clyde; but a heavy gale rendered it impossible 
to get under way, and it was not till the next afternoon 
(Sunday) that it was decided to attempt the journey. 
After a most tempestuous passage, Loch Ryan on the 
west coast of Argyllshire was reached, and the yacht 
anchored. From Loch Ryan Prince Albert made a visit 
to Loch Lomond, the weather being too stormy for the 
Queen to attempt to accompany him, and rejoined Her 
Majesty at Roseneath Bay, whence they proceeded to 
Glasgow, and after spending a night in Perth, passed by 
the Spittal of Glenshee to Balmoral, where their younger 
children were waiting their arrival. 

The life of the Queen and the Prince in their High- 
land home is best described in the Queen's own book; but 
an interesting account of a visit paid to the Castle during 
this year (1849) * s given by Greville in his Journal: "I am 
glad to have made this expedition, and to have seen the 
Queen and Prince in their Highland retreat, where they 
certainly appear to a great advantage. The place is very 
pretty, the house very small. They live here without 
any state whatever; they live not merely like private gen- 
tlefolk, but like very small gentlefolk — small house, small 
rooms, small establishment. There are no soldiers, and 
the whole guard of the Sovereign and the whole Royal 
Family is a single policeman, who walks about the 
grounds to keep off impertinent intruders or improper 
characters. . . . They live with the greatest sim- 
plicity and ease. The Prince shoots every morning, re- 
turns to luncheon, and then they walk and drive. The 
Queen is running in and out of the house all day long, 
and often goes about alone, walks into the cottages, and 



141 

sits down and chats with the old women. I never before 
was in society with the Prince, or had any conversation 
with him. * * * I was greatly struck with him. I 
saw at once (what I had always heard) that he is very 
intelligent and highly cultivated, and, moreover, that he 
has a thoughful mind, and thinks of subjects worth think- 
ing about. He seemed very much at his ease, very gay, 
pleasant, and without the least stiffness or air of dignity." 
The Prince's mind was indeed at this moment full of 
things worth thinking about. Before leaving London for 
the visit to Ireland he had held the first meeting on the 
subject of the Great Exhibition, which was two years 
later to inaugurate a new era in the arts and manufac- 
tures of the country. The first germ of the movement 
may be traced to the Frankfort fairs of the sixteenth cen- 
tury. The idea was still further devoleped by the French, 
who brought together great collections of art and in- 
dustry with a view to the improvement of both. The 
Society of Arts in London had also held on a small 
scale several exhibitions of the same nature, which had 
produced beneficial results on our own manufactures. 
But to Prince Albert is due the idea that, by making this 
kind of exhibition international — an idea for the first 
time practicable owing to the improved means of com- 
munication afforded by steam and rail — an opportunity 
would be given for every country to show what it could 
produce in raw material and finish products of every 
kind, as well in the arts as in manufactures. This would 
enable each nation to see what itsei. was doing, and to 
compare its work with that of other countries whose com- 
petition in the markets of the world would have to be 
taken into account. On the 30th of July the Prince sum- 



142 

moned to Buckingham Palace four of the most active 
members of the Society of Arts — Mr. Cubitt, Mr. Cole, 
Mr. Fuller and Mr. Scott Russell, and to them he ex- 
plained his views. These gentlemen, with Mr. Digby 
Wyatt, undertook to make the necessary inquiries of the 
great body of manufacturers throughout the kingdom, 
and to see whether the idea would meet with their favor 
and support. Their reports proved highly encouraging. 
The sympathies of the Colonies and of the East India 
Company were enlisted, and the cordial assent of the 
Prince-President of the French Republic was given. 
From this time the movement went forward, without se- 
rious hindrance, towards the attainment of its magnifi- 
cent success. 

On the 27th of September the Queen and Prince left 
Balmoral, and, halting for a night at Howick on a visit 
to Earl Grey, proceeded to Osborne. There, a few days 
afterwards, news reached them of the sudden death of 
Mr. Anson, the Prince's private secretary, and Keeper 
of the Queen's Privy Purse — offices afterwards filled -by 
Colonel the Hon. Sir Charles Phipps and General the 
Hon. Charles Grey. Of the Prince's regard for Mr. An- 
son mention has already been made. 

The opening of the new Coal Exchange of the City 
of London had been fixed for the 30th of October, 1849, 
but the Queen was unfortunately prevented from per- 
forming the ceremony in person owing 'to a slight at- 
tack of chicken-pox. The building was therefore opened 
by. Prince Albert, accompanied on the occasion by the 
Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, who thus made 
their first public appearance. The route to the city was 
by water. The Royal barge, manned by seven-and- 
twenty watermen, conveyed the party down the river, 



143 

which on the north side was covered by a line of steam- 
ers moored close to each other from Whitehall to Lon- 
don Bridge, and on the south side by a similar line of 
barges and lighters, the whole of which were thronged 
with spectators. The Royal barge was escorted by the 
city barge, and followed by the barges of the Admiralty 
and the Trinity House. No pageant of the same char- 
acter had been seen on these waters for scores of years, 
and has never been witnessed again. On landing at the 
Custom House, an address was presented to Prince Al- 
bert, after which the party were entertained at luncheon 
by the Lord Mayor, when, among other toasts, the 
health of the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal 
was received with enthusiastic demonstrations. 

For some time past the Dowager Queen Adelaide had 
been seriously ill, and on th 2d of December she died at 
her house at Stanmore. A few days before, the Queen 
and Prince Albert had seen her for the last time, and in 
a letter to King Leopold the Queen wrote: "I shall never 
forget the visit we paid to the Priory last Thursday. There 
was death written in that dear face. It was such a pic- 
ture of misery, of complete aneantissement — and>yet she 
talked of everything. I could hardly command my feel- 
ings when I came in, and when I kissed twice that poor 
dear thin hand ... I love her so dearly. She has 
ever been so maternal in her affection to me. She will 
find peace and a reward for her many sufferings." Again 
on the 4th the Queen wrote to her uncle: "Though we 
daily expected this sad event, yet it came as suddenly, 
when it did come, as if she had never been ill, and I 
can hardly realize the truth now. You know how very 
kind she was at all times to me, and how admirably she 
behaved from the time the King died. She was truly 



144 

motherly in her kindness to us and to our children, and 
it always made her happy to be with us, and to see us! 
She is a great loss to us both, and an irreparable one 
to hundreds and hundreds. She is universally regretted, 
and the feeling shown is very gratifying. . . 
Poor mamma is very much cut up by this sad event, and 
to her the Queen is a very great and serious loss." 

The early part of 1850 was entirely devoted by the 
Prince to the organization of the great enterprises he had 
undertaken for the next year. He had received warm 
encouragement from many and influential quarters, but 
there was an undercurrent of hostile criticism which oc- 
casioned him much anxiety. The first great public meet- 
ing on the subject of the Exhibition, held on the 21st 
of February, at Willis's Rooms, was a conspicuous suc- 
cess. But the strongest impetus to the movement was 
given by the Prince himself in his speech at the banquet 
held at the Mansion House on the 21st of March, when 
he explained to the Ambassadors of foreign States, to 
the Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition, and to the 
chief magistrates of more than two hundred towns, his 
conception of the scope and purpose of the proposed 
Exhibition. This memorable speech, too long to be 
quoted in these pages, but well worth perusal, was re- 
ceived with enthusiasm, and the congratulations which 
the Prince received assured him that his cherished 
scheme had taken a firm hold on the hearts of the peo- 
ple. The Queen was deeply touched by the warmth with 
which her husband's powers of mind and heart were re- 
ceived, and writing to her uncle a few days afterwards, 
says of the Prince: "People are much struck by his great 
power and energy; by the great self-denial and constant 
wish to work for others which are so striking in his 



145 

character. But this is the happiest life. Pining for what 
one cannot have, and trying to run after what is pleas- 
antest, invariably end in disappointment." 

Of the great self-denial invariably shown by the Prince 
a conspicuous instance occurred almost immediately 
after these lines had been written by the Queen. The 
Duke of Wellington proposed that the Prince should 
succeed him in his office as Commander-in-Chief. This 
"tempting offer for a young man," as the Prince himself 
terms it, was fully discussed, and eventually refused, for 
reasons which the Prince embodied in a letter to the 
Duke. One paragraph of this letter is quoted here, as 
it explains the course of action which his Royal High- 
ness had adopted when first he became the Consort of 
the Queen, and this he continued to pursue while his life 
was spared to Pier Majesty and to the nation. "Whilst 
a female Sovereign has a great many disadvantages in 
comparison with a King, yet, if she is married, and her 
husband understands and does his duty, her position, on 
the other hand, has many compensating advantages, and, 
in the long run, will be found even to be stronger than 
that of a male Sovereign. But this requires that the 
husband should entirely sink his own individual exist- 
ence in that of his wife; that he should aim at no power 
by himself or for himself; should shun all contention, 
assume no separate responsibility before the public, but 
make his position entirely a part of hers; fill up every 
gap which, as a woman, she would naturally leave in the 
exercise of her regal functions ; continually and anxiously 
watch every part of the public business, in order to be 
able to advise and assist her at any moment in any of 
the multifarious and difficult questions or duties brought 
before her, sometimes international, sometimes political, 



146 

or social, or personal. As the natural head of her family, 
superintendent of her household, manager of her private 
affairs, sole confidential adviser in politics, and only as- 
sistant in her communications with the officers of the 
Government, he is, besides, the husband of the Queen, 
the tutor of the Royal children, the private secretary of 
the Sovereign, and her permanent Minister." The Duke 
of Wellington was convinced by the arguments of the 
Prince, and Lord John Russell, to whom the whole cor- 
respondence, which may be found in Sir Theodore Mar- 
tin's "Life," was submitted, also agreed in the conclu- 
sions at which the Queen and Prince had arrived. 

On the ist of May, 1850, the Queen's seventh child 
and third son was born at Buckingham Palace. The 
day was the birthday of the veteran Duke of Wellington, 
and this coincidence gave the Queen and Prince the op- 
portunity of marking their friendship and esteem for one 
of their most valued subjects. Writing a few days after- 
wards to Baron Stockmar, the Prince says of the infant: 
"He is to be called Arthur William Patrick Albert. His 
first name is in compliment to the good old Duke, on 
whose eighty-first birthday he first saw the light. Pat- 
rick is in remembrance of our recent visit to Ireland; 
William, of the Prince of Prussia (late Emperor of Ger- 
many), whom we shall ask to be godfather, and also in 
remembrance of poor Queen Adelaide, on whose ac- 
count we have also selected the Duchess Ida of Saxe- 
Weimar (Queen Adelaide's sister) as godmther. My 
name the Queen insists on retaining by way of coda." 
The infant Prince, now Duke of Connaught, was bap- 
tized in the following June, the Prince of Prussia and 
the Duke of Wellington both being present. 

On the 27th of May the Queen was again the object of 






147 

a cowardly outrage while leaving Cambridge House, 
where her uncle was lying at the point of death. A man, 
dressed as a gentleman, darted forward and struck with 
a stick at the Queen's face; the force of the blow was for- 
tunately broken by the bonnet, which was crushed in, 
but Her Majesty's forehead was severely bruised. The 
injury was not so serious as to prevent a visit to the 
opera in the evening, where, on the appearance of Her 
Majesty, the performance was stopped, ana the National 
Anthem sung amidst enthusiastic cheering. The ruffian 
proved to be one Robert Pate, formerly holding a com- 
mission in the ioth Hussars. He was tried on the nth 
of July, found guilty, and sentenced to seven years' trans- 
portation. 

On the 29th of July of this year the Queen lost a val- 
ued friend and counsellor in Sir Robert Peel, who died 
from the effects of a fall from his horse on Constitution 
Hill. In a letter written to her uncle a few days after- 
wards, Her Majesty says: "The sorrow and grief at his 
death are most touching, and the country mourns over 
him as over a father. Every one seems to have lost a 
personal friend." Nor was this the only loss which this 
year was to bring. Before Sir Robert Peel was laid in 
his grave, the Duke of Cambridge, who had been long 
ill, died, and the news arrived of the serious illness of the 
Queen of the Belgians, an illness which proved fatal in 
October following. Her father, the exiled Louis Phil- 
lippe, had passed away at Claremont on the 25th of 
August, just as the Queen and Prince Albert were start- 
ing for Scotland to enjoy a brief respite from the cares of 
State, which, at this crisis, were more than usually bur- 
densome, owing to the state of foreign affairs. 

On the journey to the north the Queen and Prince 



148 

rested at Castle Howard, the seat of the Earl of Carlisle, 
and on the continuation of the journey to Edinburgh 
opened the railway bridge at Newcastle over the Tyne, 
and another at Berwick over the Tweed. At Edinburgh 
the Queen occupied the Royal palace of Holyrood, 
which then for the first time since the flight of Mary 
Queen of Scots sheltered a Queen. The stay in the north- 
ern capital was keenly enjoyed, the Queen especially ad- 
miring the view from Arthur's Seat, to which she 
climbed. During this visit the Prince laid the first stone 
of the Scottish National Gallery. The whole of the 
month of September was passed at Balmoral, and on the 
ioth of October the Royal party returned to the south, 
passing one night at Holyrood on the journey. 

The serenity of the political atmosphere at the close 
of the year was seriously disturbed by a Brief from the 
Vatican, which re-established in the Kingdom of Eng- 
land a hierarchy of Bishops, deriving their tiles from 
English Sees. It came at a moment when the "Tracta- 
rian" movement had caused much excitement among the 
members of the Church of England, and the popular in- 
dignation at this "aggression" was raised to fervent heat. 
Sir Theodore Martin, in his Life of the Prince Consort, 
writes: "Men of all classes and all denominations poured 
in addresses to the Crown condemning in the strongest 
terms the invasion of the Royal supremacy, and urging 
determined resistance to the Papal pretensions. The 
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the Corpora- 
tion of London, sent their representatives by hundreds 
with similar addresses to Windsor Castle, where they 
were presented in St. George's Hall on the ioth of De- 
cember. To each of these, replies were returned by Her 
Majesty in person. The Oxford address, presented by the 



149 

Duke of Wellington as Chancellor, was noted at the time 
as having been read by him 'in his peculiar energetic 
manner, with great vigor and animation.' The Cam- 
bridge address," the same chronicler states, "was read by 
the Prince 'with great clearness and well-marked empha- 
sis,' and responded to by Her Majesty 'with great delib- 
eration and with decided accents.' " These addresses 
and replies were drawn up with a moderation which 
might well have been imitated by some of Her Majesty's 
Ministers. In a letter on the subject to her aunt, the 
Duchess of Gloucester, the Queen writes: "I would 
never have consented to say anything which breathed a 
spirit of intolerance. Sincerely Protestant as I always 
have been and always shall be, and indignant as I am to 
those who call themselves Protestant while they are, in 
fact, quite the contrary, I must regret the unchristian 
and intolerant spirit exhibited by many people at the 
public meetings. I canot bear to hear the violent abuse 
of the Catholic religion, which is so painful and so cruel 
towards the many good and innocent Roman Catholics. 
However, we must hope and trust this excitement will 
cease, and that the wholesome effect of it upon our 
Church will be lasting." 

On the 4th of February, 1851, Parliament was opened 
by Her Majesty in person. The Queen was loudly 
cheered, the cheers being mingled with the cry of "No 
Popery!" Fierce debates on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill 
followed ; the Government was beaten, and resigned ; but, 
as Lord Stanley was not prepared to 1 form a Government, 
Lord John Russell and his colleagues resumed office. It 
was not till the middle oif the year that the excitement 
caused by the explosion died away. During this anxious 
time the Queen and Prince were much occupied with the 



150 

hard work and anxieties caused by the approach of the 
opening of the Great Exhibition. Croakers and prophets 
of evil were busy all around. Writing to the Dowager 
Duchess of Coburg, the Prince, a fortnight before the ap- 
pointed day, says : "Just at present I am more dead than 
alive from overwork. The opponents of the Exhibition 
work with might and main, to throw all the women into 
panic and drive myself crazy. The strangers, they give 
out, are certain to commence a thorough revolution here, 
to murder Victoria and myself, and to proclaim the Red 
Republic in England; the plague is certain to ensue from 
the confluence of such vast multitudes, and to swallow up 
those whom the increased price of everything has not al- 
ready swept away. For all this I am to be responsible, 
and against all this I have to make efficient provision." 

The success of the Exhibition is a matter of history; 
no building like it had ever before been seen, and no 
such collection of arts and manufactures had ever been 
brought together. Of the opening ceremony the Queen 
gives her own impressions in her diary: "May I. — The 
great event has taken place — a complete and beautiful 
triumph — a glorious and touching sight, one which I shall 
ever be proud of for my beloved Albert and my country. 
Yes, it is a day which makes her heart swell 
with pride and glory and thankfulness! . . . The 
glimpse of the transept through the iron gates, the wav- 
ing palms, flowers, statues, myriads of people filling the 
galleries and seats around, with the flourish of trumpets 
as we entered, gave us a sensation which I can never 
forget, and I felt much moved. . . . The sight as 
we came to the middle, where the steps and chair (which 
I did not sit on) were placed, with the beautiful crystal 
fountain just in front of it, was magical — so vast, so glori- 



151 

ous, so touching. One ifelt — as so many did whom I 
have since spoken to — filled with devotion — more so than 
by any service I have ever heard. The tremendous 
cheers, the joy expressed in every face, the immmensity 
of the building ... the organ (with two hundred 
instruments and six hundred voices) which sounded like 
nothing, and my beloved husband, the author of this 
'Peace Festival,' which united the industry of all nations 
of the earth — all this was moving, indeed, and it was, and 
is, a day to live forever. God bless my dearest Albert, 
God bless my dearest country, which has shown itself so 
great to-day ! One felt so grateful to the great God, who 
seemed to pervade all and to bless all. The only event it 
in the slightest degree reminded one of was the Corona- 
tion, but this day's festival was a thousand times superior. 
In fact, it is unique, and can bear no comparison, from its 
peculiarity, beauty, and combination of such different 
and striking objects. ... I must not omit to men- 
tion an interesting episode of this day, viz., the visit of 
the good old Duke on this his eighty-second birthday to 
his little godson, our dear little boy. He came to us 
both at five and gave him a golden cup and some toys 
which he had himself chosen, and Arthur gave him a 
nosegay. We dined en ifamille, and then went to the 
Covent Garden Opera. I was rather tired, but we were 
both so happy, so full of thankfulness! God is indeed 
our kind and merciful Father!" 

On the 13th of June Her Majesty gave a State ball of 
great magnificence, at which all the company wore cos- 
tumes of the time of the Restoration, and on the 9th of 
July the Queen and the Prince accepted the invitation of 
the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of London to an 
entertainment to celebrate the success of the Great Ex- 



152 

hibition. The route lay through the City from Temple 
Bar; it was brilliantlv illuminated, and the crowd in the 
streets enormous. The Guildhall was magnificently 
decorated and supper was served in the ancient crypt. 

After a short stay at Osborne the Queen and Prince 
returned to London for the prorogation of Parliament on 
the 8th of August and for another visit to the exhibi- 
tion. On the 29th they arrived at Balmoral, now the 
property of Her Majesty, to enjoy the rest and quiet so 
much needed after the strain and anxieties of the sum- 
mer. The journey was for the first time made by the 
Great Northern Railway. It had been arranged that on 
the return journey a visit should be paid to Liverpool, 
now the first shipping port of the kingdom. After halt- 
ing at Lancaster to see "Gaunt's embattled pile," the 
Royal party paid a visit to Croxteth, the seat of the Earl 
of Sefton, whence, next morning, passing through 
Konwsley, they reached Liverpool. Here the warmth 
of their reception was unchilled by the unusually incle- 
ment weather. Having viewed the docks, Her Majesty 
left Liverpool by canal for Worsley Hall, the seat of the 
Earl of Ellesmere. Thence she visited Manchester, 
where, in finer weather, she was received by enthusiastic 
multitudes. The great feature of the reception was the 
gathering of eighty thousand children of schools of all 
denominations, who were arranged in fourteen tiers of 
galleries around the Peel Park. Of this spectacle the 
Queen in her diary speaks as "A most extraordinary and 
totally unprecedented sight. . . . All the children 
sang 'God save the Queen' extremely well together, the 
director being placed on a very high stand, from which 
he could command the whole park. It was a very pleas- 
ant and interesting visit. We went through Manchester 



153 

and had an opportunity of seeing the extraordinary num- 
ber of warehouses and manufactories it contains, and how 
large it is." 

Windsor was reached on the nth of October. On the 
14th the Queen paid her final visit to the Exhibition, 
which was formally closed on the morrow. Lord John 
Russell, writing to the Queen on the 17th, sums up its 
career and results in the following words : "The grandeur 
of the conception, the zeal, invention, and talent dis- 
played in the execution, and the perfect order maintained 
from the first day to the last, have contributed together 
to give imperishable fame to Prince Albert. If to others 
much praise is due for their several parts in the work, it 
is to his energy and judgment that the world owes both 
the original design and the harmonious and rapid execu- 
tion. Whatever may be done hereafter, no one can de- 
prive the Prince of the glory of being the first to con- 
ceive and to carry into effect this beneficent design, nor 
will the Monarchy fail to participate in the advantage to 
be derived from this undertaking. No Republic of the 
Old or New World has done anything so splendid or so 
useful." In acknowledging this letter the Queen wrote: 
"We are both much pleased and touched at Lord John's 
kind and gratifying expressions relative to the success of 
the Great Exhibition, the closing of which we must much 
regret, as, indeed, all seem to do. Lord John is right in 
supposing it is particularly gratifying to her to see her 
beloved husband's name stand ever immortalized by the 
conception of the greatest triumph of Peace which the 
world has ever produced, and by the energy and per- 
severance with which he helped to carry it out. To feel 
this and to see this so universally acknowledged by a 



154 

country, which we both daily feel more attached to and 
more proud of, is indeed a source of immense happiness 
and gratitude to the Queen. . . . The day of the 
closing of the Exhibition (which the Queen regretted 
much she could not witness) was the twelfth anniversary 
of her betrothal to the Prince, which is a curious coin- 
cidence." 

In November of this year the Queen lost her only re- 
maining uncle on her father's side, by the death of 
Ernest, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover. On 
the 2nd of December, 1851, occurred the coup d'etat of 
Louis Napoleon. 

The year 1852 opened more cheerfully, with a revival 
of trade, an influx of gold from Australia causing a sea- 
son of such unusual animation and gaiety, that King 
Leopold was afraid of the effects for his nephew and 
niece. To calm his apprehension the Queen wrote to him 
on the 1st of June: ''Allow me just to say one word 
about the London season. The London season consists 
for us of two State balls and two concerts. We are hard- 
ly ever later than twelve o'clock at night, and our only 
dissipation is going three or four times a week to the play 
or opera, which is a great amusement and delassement 
to us both. As for going out, as people do here every 
night, to balls and parties, and to breakfasts and teas all 
day long besides, I am sure no one would stand it worse 
than I should. So you see, dearest uncle, that in fact the 
London season is nothing to us. The person who really 
is terribly fagged during the season with business and 
seeing people so constantly is Albert. This often makes 
me anxious and unhappy." 

Parliament was prorogued, somewhat early, on the 1st 



155 

of July, by the Queen in person, and two days afterwards 
the Court moved to Osborne. From this center several 
plasant yachting trips were made. Dartmouth, Ply- 
mouth, and Mount Edgcumbe were visited, and in the 
smaller yacht Fairy a cruise was made up the Tamar. 
Tempestous weather prevented a projected trip to the 
Channel Islands, but on the ioth of August it was found 
practicable to cross the Scheldt, and to pay King Leo- 
pold a visit at Laeken. Here the Queen and Prince re- 
mained until the 14th, and then crossed to England, the 
weather again being boisterous. On the 30th the Court 
left Osborne for Balmoral, whence they returned to 
Windsor on the 14th of October, passing through Edin- 
burgh, Preston and Chester to Bangor, to see the new tu- 
bular bridge built by Mr. Robert Stephenson over the 
Menai Straits. During this sojourn at Balmoral the 
news came to he Queen that a large fortune had been left 
her by a Mr. ojhn Camden Nield. Writing to King Leo- 
pold, Her Majesty remarked, "It is astonishing, but it is 
satisfactory to see that people have so much confidence 
that it will not be thrown away. And so it certainly will 
not be." A sadder message reached Balmoral a few days 
after, when the great Duke of Wellington on the 14th 
passed peacefully away at Walmer Castle. A report had 
been received on the mornig of the 16th, but was not 
generally believed, and it was not till the afternon when 
Her Majesty, who was sketching at the Dhu Loch, re- 
ceived a letter from Lord Derby, "which," the Queen 
writes, "I tore open; and alas! it contained the confirma- 
tion of the fatal news that England's, or rather Britain's, 
pride, her glory, her hero, the greatest man she had ever 
produced, was no more! Sad day! Great and irrepara- 
ble national loss! * * * In him centered almost ev- 



156 

ery earthly honour a subject could possess. His position 
was the highest a subject ever had — above party, looked 
up to by all, revered by the whole nation, the friend of 
the Sovereign; and how simply he carried these hon- 
ours! * * * He was a link which connected us with 
bygone times, with the last century. Not an eye will be 
dry in the whole country." Immediately on her return 
from Balmoral, the Queen issued a general order to the 
army which the deceased soldier had so long command- 
ed. Its closing paragraph ran as follows: "The discip- 
line which he exacted from others, as the main founda- 
tion of the military character, he sternly imposed upon 
himself; and the Queen desires to impress upon the army 
that the greatest commander whom England ever saw 
has left an example for the imitation of every soldier, in 
taking as his guiding principle in every relation of life 
an energetic and unhesitating obedience to the call of 
duty." The public funeral of the Duke was celebrated 
at St. Paul's on the 18th of November with great mag- 
nificence and solemnity. 

On the ist of December of this year the Senate and the 
Legislative Corps of the French Republic announced to 
their President that he had been elected Emperor i f 
France by a majority of seven millions and a half of votes. 
Under the title of Napoleon III., the new Emperor was 
recognized in England and by the principal foreign pow- 
ers, with the exception of Russia. 

On the 7th of April, 1853, the fourth son of Her Maj- 
esty was born at Buckingham Palace. The infant Prince 
was christened at the same place on the 28th of June by 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, receiving the names of 
Leopold George Duncan Albert; the first after the King 
of the Belgians, the second after his sponsor, the new 



157 

King of Hanover, and the third as a compliment to Scot- 
land. 

At this time the urgent representations of the Queen 
end the Prince had called the attention of the Ministry to 
the condition of our naval and military forces. In the 
early part of the year 1853 Chobham Common was se- 
lected for a camp to test the efficiency of the military or- 
ganization. The idea of a permanent camp of instruction 
was also pressed upon the Government, and later on re- 
sulted in the acquisition of the tract of land where the 
military station of Aldershot is now fixed. 

In the summer the site selected at Chobham was occu- 
pied by an encampment of a small, but well-appointed 
force of about 10,000 men of various branches of the ser- 
vice. The spectacle was novel and interesting to a gene- 
ration which had not for nearly forty years had the op- 
portunity of seeing a mass of troops together under 
arms. On the 21st of June the Queen and Prince Albert, 
with whom were the King of Hanover and the Duke of 
Coburg, witnessed the first trial of field manoeuvres. 
Her Majesty, mounted on a black charger, wore a mili- 
tary habit. An attack of measles, which ran through 
the whole family with the exception of the two youn gest 
children, prevented the Prince from taking the active 
part in the work of the camp to which he had been look- 
ing forward to with eagerness; and it was not till the 
4th of August that he was able to accompany the Queen 
to witness the operations, which were on that day car- 
ried out by the fresh body of troops which had taken the 
places of the original occupants of the camp. On the 6th 
they returned to Chobham with their four eldest chil- 
dren, celebrating by this treat the birthday of the Prince. 



158 

Of this visit the Queen wrote to King Leopold: "We 
went twice more to our dear (as I call it) camp, and had 
two interesting days there. It had been most successful, 
and the troops have been particularly well all the time. 
When I think that this camp, and all our large fleet, are, 
without doubt, the result of Albert's assidious and un- 
ceasing representations to the late and present govern- 
ment, without which I fully believe very little would 
have been done, one may be proud and thankful; but, as 
usual, he is so modest that he allows no praise. He 
works for the general good, and is sufficiently rewarded 
when he sees this carried out." 

The camp was broken up on the 20th, having proved 
a complete success, and a most important and valuable 
training for the active warfare in which the troops which 
had taken part in it were soon to be engaged. The re- 
view of the large fleet assembled at Spithead took place 
on the nth of August; the force assembled was the most 
powerful which, up to that time, had ever been brought 
together, consisting of six ships of the line propelled- by 
steam, three sailing ships of the line, and sixteen steam 
frigates and sloops, carrying 1,076 guns and nearly 10,- 
000 men. The steam power, it was recorded with admir- 
ation at the time, was nominally of 9,680 horses, but real- 
ly of double the amount, and therefore exceeded the 
horse-power of the whole collected cavalry of the State! 
The review had a melancholy interest also; it was the 
last time when a squadron of sailing ships of the line 
were watched from the English shores. 

On the 29th of the same month the Queen, accompa- 
nied by Prince Albert and their two eldest sons, arrived 
at Kingstown from Holyhead to pay their long-expected 
visit to the Exhibition of Irish Industry, which had been 



159 

opened earlier in the year at Dublin. They were re- 
ceived by the Lord Lieutenant and proceeded to the 
Viceregal Lodge, and on the following day visited the 
Exhibition. The Queen says of it, "Everything was well 
conducted, and the people most kind." In deplorable 
weather the Queen and Prince paid a visit the same day 
to Mr. Dargan, at whose sole expense the Exhibition 
building had been constructed. His demeanour is noted 
as "trustingly simple and modest. I would have made 
him a Baronet, but he was anxious it should not be 
done." After a week's stay in Dublin, during which ev- 
ery mornig was devoted to the Exhibition, the Royal vis- 
itors left Ireland on the 3rd of September. Writing on 
that date Her Majesty says: "A beautiful morning, and 
this the very day we are going away, which we felt quite 
sorry to do, having spent such a pleasant, gay, and inter- 
esting time in Ireland. * * * We drove quietly, 
though not at a foot's pace, through Dublin, which was 
unusually crowded (no soldiers lining the streets), to the 
station, where again there were great crowds. In eight 
minutes we were at Kingstown, where again the crowds 
were immense, and most enthusiastic. The evening was 
beautiful, and the sight a very fine one — all the ships 
and yachts decked out and firing salutes, and thousands 
on the quay cheering." On the following morning they 
crossed to Holyhead, and journeyed by rail to Balmoral, 
Here on the 28th the foundation-stone of the new house 
was laid with much ceremony. 

It was in the early part of this year that the Prince had 
commenced a work which was a source of keen enjoy 
ment to him for the rest of his life, and helped to distract 
his mind from the worry and turmoil of foreign politics. 
With the Queen he had been paying much attention not 



160 

only to the literary treasures with which, under the care 
of Mr. Glover, the new Royal Library was being gradu- 
ally filled; he had also carefully examined, and superin- 
tended the rearrangement of, the great mass of drawings 
and engravings by old masters, left by George III., to 
which was added the priceless collection of portrait min- 
iatures collected from the different palaces. Every even- 
ing, when time could be spared, the Queen and Prince 
would visit the Library, and spend hours in arranging 
these treasures, and here the Prince conceived the idea of 
illustrating the life and work of one great master — Ra- 
phael — by a complete series of reproductions of his de- 
signs, arranged systematically, with fac-similes of every 
known study for, and variation of, each subject. The ac- 
quisition of the early engravings and of the photographs 
necessary for a complete elucidation of; the master's work 
in painting fresco or tapestry, was a matter of long and 
arduous labor, but the Prince lived to see a great mass 
of the work completed, and the catalogue of the collec- 
tion, which has since been printed, remains as a lasting 
record of his power of organization, and a work of per- 
manent interest to every student of art. 



CHAPTER SEVEN. 

MARRIED LIFE; 1853-1861. 

In the winter of 1853 and the earl}' part of the next 
year the Queen had much trouble to endure. War had 
been declared between Russia and Turkey, and public 
feeling in England, already vehemently excited, was 
raised to a supreme pitch by the destruction of the Turk- 
ish fleet at Sinope. 

The resignation of Lord Palmerston, who represented 
the warlike spirit of the people, inflamed the public mind ; 
a loud outcry was raised in the Press about Court in- 
trigues, and absurd rumours were circulated that Prince 
Albert was acting as a hostile influence behind the 
throne. It was impossible for the Queen not to feel very 
keenly the injustice of these unfounded and mischievous 
attacks. In a letter to Lord Aberdeen of the 4th of Jan- 
uary, 1854, she wrote: "In attacking the Prince, who is 
one and the same with the Queen herself, the throne is 
assailed; and, she must say, she little expected that any 
portion of her subjects would thus requite the unceas- 
ing labours of the Prince." On the 30th of January Par- 
liament was opened by the Queen in person; the calum- 
nies were completely refuted by the Ministerial leaders in 
both Houses, and the resolutions accorded to the Queen 
and the Prince is described by Her Majesty as "very 
friendly." In the course of the same letter, to Baron 



162 

Stockmar, she writes : "We are both well, and I am sure 
will now recover our necessary strength and equanimity 
to meet the great difficulties and trials which are before 
us." 

These difficulties and trials were the most serious with 
which, since her accession, the Queen had been called 
upon to cope. For the first time she had been obliged to 
commence hostilities against one of the European Pow- 
ers, and, as was stated in Her Majesty's declaration on 
the 28th of March, 1854, actuated "by a desire to divert 
from her dominions most disastrous consequences, and 
to save Europe from the predominance of a Power which 
had violated the faith of treaties, and defied the opinion 
of the civilized world, to take up arms, in conjunction 
with the Emperor of the French, for the defense of the 
Sultan. Her Majesty is persuaded that in so acting she 
will have the support of her people; and that the pretext 
of zeal for the Christian religion will be used in vain to 
cover an aggression undertaken in disregard of its holy 
precepts and of its pure and beneficent spirit." Before 
this formal declaration troops had already been de- 
spatched to the East. Of one detachment, the Queen in 
a letter to King Leopold, on February 28th, says : — "The 
last battalion of the Guards (Scots Fusileers) embarked 
to-day. They passed through the court-yard here at 
seven o'clock this morning. We stood on the balcony to 
see them. The morning fine, the sun shining over the 
towers of Westminster Abbey,and an immense crowd col- 
lected to see the fine men, and cheering them immensely 
as with difficulty they marched along. They formed line, 
presented arms, and then cheered us very heartily, and 
went off cheering. It was a touching and beautiful sight. 
Many sorrowing friends were there, and one saw the 



163 

shake of many a hand. My best wishes and prayers will 
be with them all." 

On the ioth of March the Court left London for the 
Isle of Wight. At Spithead lay the magnificent fleet, 
under the command of Sir Charles Napier, which was 
under orders to sail for the Baltic. Through the twenty 
ships, all but three propelled by steam, the Queen and 
Prince were conveyed in the Fairy from Portsmouth to 
Osborne. The next day, in the same yacht, they re- 
turned to witness the departure of the first division of the 
squadron for the North. The Fairy led for some miles, 
and then stopped while the fleet passed by, saluting as it 
went. The Queen, in a letter to Baron Stockmar, ex- 
presses her own feeling in these words: "I am very en- 
thusiastic about my dear Army and Navy, and wish I 
had two sons in both now. I know I shall suffer much 
when I hear of losses among them." 

During the progress of the War the thoughts of the 
Queen and Prince never strayed from the sailors and 
soldiers; the success of their arms was a source of deep 
pride and joy, but these feelings were saddened by the 
tales of loss, suffering, famine, and disease, which arrived 
from the Camp before Sebastopol. The winter was one 
of unusual severity, and the hardships caused by its rig- 
our at home increased the sympathy felt by all classes, 
as each mail brought news of the sufferings of the troops 
on the bleak hills of the Crimea. To Lord Ragan at 
the close of the year the Queen wrote: "The sad priva- 
tions of the Army, the bad weather, and the constant 
sickness are causes of the deepest concern and anxiety 
to the Queen and the Prince. The braver her noble troops 
are, the more patiently and heroically they bear all their 
trials and sufferings, the more miserable we feel at this 



164 

long continuance. The Queen trusts that Lord Raglan 
will be very strict in seeing that no unnecessary priva- 
tions are incurred by any negligence of those whose duty 
it is to watch over their wants. * * * Lord Raglan 
cannot think how much we suffer for the Army, and how 
painfully anxious we are to know that their privations are 
decreasing. * * * The Queen cannot conclude 
without wishing Lord Raglan and the whole of the 
Army, in the Prince's name, and her own, a happy and 
glorious New Year." 

In the summer of 1854 the Queen and Prince received 
a visit from their young relatives, the King of Portugal 
and his brother the Duke of Oporto, the sons of the late 
Queen Donna Maria de Gloria, whom Her Majesty had 
known from her childhood. With the Queen and Prince 
they went to Ascot Races, and were present at the open- 
ing of the new Crystal Palace at Sydenham. On the 4th 
of September, in response to a very cordial invitation 
from the Emperor Napoleon, Prince Albert left Osborne 
for Boulogne, to inspect the encampments of French 
troops which had been formed in the vicinity. In the mu- 
tual liking and esteem which resulted from this visit be- 
gan a lasting friendship, drawn closer by the tie of com- 
mon sorrow which still unites the widowed Queen and 
the widowed and now childless Empress of the French. 

Parliament, which had been opened by the Queen in 
person on the 12th of December, after a short but stormy 
and exciting session, in which the conduct of the Minis- 
try was severely criticised, adjourned till the 23rd of Jan- 
uary, 1855, when it re-assembled. The attacks on the 
Ministry were pressed with such energy, that Lord Aber- 
deen and his colleagues were forced to retire. Though 
the Queen's difficulties and anxieties were at length some- 



165 

what alleviated by the formation of a Ministry under 
Lord Palmerston, yet the criticism of public men grew 
more and more bitter. There was little brightness in the 
position of things; the brilliant victories of Alma and 
Inkermann had produced no tangible result; Sebastopol 
still defied, and under Todleben grew stronger to defy, 
the attacks of a force which, exposed to the rigour of a 
Scythian winter, was daily thinned by sickness and pri- 
vation. 

On the 2nd of March, 1855, the Emperor Nicholas died 
at St. Petersburg, and was succeeded by the Emperor 
Alexander II. A week later began the series of delibera- 
tions between the Powers of Europe for the restoration 
of peace, which resulted in the abortive labour of the 
Vienna conference. It was on the day following the re- 
ceipt in England of the news of the death of the Czar, 
that the Queen with the Prince visited the military hos- 
pitals at Chatham, where the wounded soldiers, who had 
been conveyed home, were lying. The visit made a great 
impression upon Her Majesty, who urged upon the Sec- 
retary of War the necessity for more military hospitals, 
and for better arrangements for the treatment of their 
inmates. The great establishmnt at Netley was the re- 
sult of the direct intervention of the Sovereign. 

On the 1 6th of April, 1855, occurred the memorable 
visit of the Emperor Napoleon with the Empress to these 
shores, an event remarkable from the fact that it arose 
out of an alliance so unforseen that the whole tradition- 
ary policy of Europe was based upon the assumption of 
its impossibility. The succes of the visit was, however, 
great and enduring. The Imperial visitors, after an en- 
thusiastic welcome in the course of their journey from 
Dover through London, arrived at Windsor Castle in the 



166 

evening, where they were received by the Queen and the 
Royal Family, and lodged in the principal suite of rooms 
on the north side, which had been before, by a strange 
irony of fate, tenanted by the Emperor Nicholas and by 
King Louis Philippe. The pleasing impression made 
upon the Queen by her first conversation with the Em- 
peror was confirmed during the course of the visit. Her 
Majesty notes that her guest was "very quiet and amia- 
ble and easy to get on with. . . . Nothing can be 
more civil or amiable or more well-bred than the Em- 
peror's manner — so full of tact." On the afternoon of 
the 17th a review was held in the Great Park, where 
the Queen, accompanied by the Empress, the Emperor 
and Prince Albert being on horseback, reviewed a body 
of cavalry, composed of the 2nd Life Guards, the Royal 
Horse Guards, the Carabaniers, and a troop of Horse 
Artillery, under the command of Lord Cardigan. In the 
evening there was a ball in the Waterloo Gallery, of 
which the Queen writes: "How strange to think that I, 
the grand-daughter of George III., should dance with 
the Emperor Napoleon, nephew of England's greatest 
enemy, now my nearest and most intimate ally, in the 
Waterloo Room, and this ally only six years ago living 
in this country an exile, poor and unthought of." 
"Strange indeed!" writes Sir Theodore Martin, "and 
none could have been so deeply impressed by the con- 
trast as the Emperor himself, whn he looked round at 
the portraits, with which the room is paneled, of the 
great statesmen and soldiers, the struggle and glory 
of whose lives it had been to hold his famous ancestor in 
check." A view of this historic room is given opposite 
page 136. 



167 



Another ceremony, which must have called up strange 
thoughts in the minds of the spectators, took place next 
day, when at the Chapter of the Order of the Garter, 
held in the Throne Room, the Sovereign invested the 
Emperor with the Insignia of the Order. The last knight 
who had been invested by the Sovereign in person, in a 
full Chapter of the Order at Windsor, was King Louis 
Philippe. On the following day the Queen with her Im- 
perial guests and the whole Court moved to Bucking- 
ham Palace, whence the Emperor and Empress paid a 
visit to the City of London, and in the evening, with the 
Queen and Prince Albert, to the Royal Italian Opera. 
The reception of the Imperial visitors on these occasions 
showed how cordially the alliance between the two Pow- 
ers was welcomed by all classes of their subjects. The 
welcome was no less apparent the following day when 
the newly opened Crystal Palace at Sydenham was vis- 
ited. The next day the Emperor and Empress took 
leave of the Queen, and escorted by Prince Albert as far 
as Dover, returned to France. 

Of the visit the Queen has noted in her Journal: "It 
went off so well — not a hitch or contretemps — fine 
weather, everything smiling; the nation enthusiastic, and 
happy in the firm and intimate alliance and union of two 
great countries, whose enmity would be fatal. We have 
war now, certainly, but war which does not threaten our 
shores, our homes, and internal prosperity, which war 
with France must ever do. . . . I am glad to have 
known this extraordinary man. ... I believe him 
to be capable of kindness, affection, friendship and grat- 
itude. I feel confidence in him as regards the future." 
That the esteem was mutual may be inferred from an 
extract from the leter written to the Queen by the Em- 



168 

peror on the 25th of April, in which he says: "I feel it 
to be my first duty to again assure you how deep is the 
impression left upon my mind by the reception, so full of 
grace and affectionate kindness, vouchsafed to me by 
your Majesty. Political interests first brought us into 
contact, but to-day, permitted as I have been, to become 
personally known to your Majesty, it is a living and re- 
spectful sympathy by which I am, and shall be hence- 
forth, bound to your Majesty. In truth, it is impossible 
to live for a few days as an inmate of your home with- 
out yielding to the charm inseparable from the spectacle 
of the grandeur and the happiness of the most united of 
families. Your Majesty has also touched me to the heart 
by the delicacy of the consideration shown to the Em- 
press; for nothing pleases more than to see the person 
one loves become the object of such flattering atten- 
tions." 

On the 18th of May, 1855, in the centre of the Horse 
Guards Parade, the Queen with her own hand presented 
to the officers of the Army of the Crimea, and to a por- 
tion of the non-commissioned officers and privates of 
regiments which had been engaged in the East, who had 
returned to this country on leave, or disabled by 
their wounds, the war medals they had deserved by their 
gallant service. The Queen herself best describes this 
touching ceremonial in a letter of the 22nd of May to the 
King of the Belgians: "Ernest will have told you what 
a beautiful and touching sight and ceremony (the first of 
the kind ever witnessed in England) the distribution of 
the medals was. From the highest Prince of the blood 
to the lowest private, all received the same distinction 
for the bravest conduct in the severest actions, and the 
rough hand of the brave and honest private soldier came 



169 

for the first time in contact with that of their Sovereign 
and their Queen. Noble fellows ! I own I feel as if they 
were my own children — my heart beats for them as for 
my nearest and dearest! They were so touched, so 
pleased — many, I hear, cried; and they won't hear of giv- 
ing up their medals to have their names engraved upon 
them, for fear that they should not receive the identical 
one put into their hands by me! Several came by in a 
sadly mutilated state. None created more interest or is 
more gallant than young Sir Thomas Trowbridge, who 
had at Inkermann one leg and the foot of another car- 
ried away by a round shot, and continued comanding his 
battery till the battle was over. * * * He was drag- 
ged by in a Bath-chair, and when I gave him his medal I 
told him I should make him one of my aides-de-camp for 
his very gallant conduct, to which he replied, T am am- 
ply repaid for everything.' One must love and revere 
such soldiers as those." 

On the 1 8th of August, 1855, the Queen and Prince 
Albert, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and the 
Princess Royal, left Osborne for Boulogne and Paris, to 
return the visit of the Emperor and Empress of the 
French to England. No English Sovereign had visited 
the French capital since the coronation of the infant 
Henry VI. at Paris in 1422. In 1688, James II., it is 
true, had sought the protection of Louis XIV., and was 
lodged by him in one of his palaces, but he was a fu- 
gitive and an exile, and the throne of England was occu- 
pied by his son-in-law. In 181 5, four centuries after the 
expulsion of the Plantagenets, the generals of an English 
army, which had given the first Emperor Napoleon his 
final overthrow, and stormed the defenses of Paris, occu- 
pied its gates and palaces as conquerors. They restored 



170 

to his throne the heir of the Bourbons, Louis XVIII. , 
whose great-grandfather had waged war against England 
for the restoration of the heir of the Stuarts. Fifteen 
years later his brother, Charles X., fled again to England, 
and the throne of France was occupied by a Bour- 
bon of the House of Orleans. He, in turn, eighteen 
years afterwards, fled to the shores of England, 
and there remained the guest of the English Queen. His 
fallen sceptre was seized by the nephew of the great Em- 
peror whom the English arms had overthrown in 1814, 
and who had died a prisoner on an English island. The 
new ruler had lived in exile under the protection of the 
English laws; he had borne himself as a citizen of the 
land of his refuge, and, when the safety of its capital was 
menaced, had enrolled himself as a special constable for 
its defense. He was now absolute Sovereign of the 
French people, and the visit of the Queen of England to 
the French Emperor in his own capital was, therefore, 
from every point of view, a most remarkable event. 

The Queen and Prince on their arrival passed through 
Paris to St. Cloud, which had been placed at their dis- 
posal by the Emperor, and here they were received by 
the Empress. The next day being Sunday was kept as 
a day of rest, and on Monday the Royal party, under the 
guidance of Prince Napoleon, inspected the Palais des 
Beaux-Arts, a portion of the Great Exposition de lTn- 
dustrie. On Tuesday a visit was paid to Versailles, and 
the next day was devoted to a further examination of the 
Palais de lTndustrie. On Thursday the Queen and 
Prince were conducted over the Louvre, with its multifa- 
rious treasures of art, and in the evning the Municipality 
of Paris gave a magnificent ball in the Hotel de Ville, 
which had been decorated with a brilliance and splen- 



171 

dour surpassing all previous experience. On Friday, 
after again visiting the Palais de l'lndustrie, the Queen 
was present at a review ot iorty-five thousand troops in 
the Champ de Mars, and exceedingly admired the ap- 
pearance and equipment of the battalions. After this, 
as the Queen wrote in her Journal, "We drove straight 
to the Hotel des Invalides, under the dome of which Na- 
poleon lies, late as it was, because we were most anxious 
not to miss this, perhaps the most important act of all in 
this very interesting and eventful time. It was nearly 
seven when we arrived. All the Invalides — chiefly of the 
former, but some of the present, war — were drawn up on 
either side of the court into which we drove. * * * 
There were four torches which lit us along, and added 
to the solemnity of the scene, which was striking in ev- 
ery way. The church is fine and lofty. We went to look 
from above into the open vault * * * the coffin is 
not yet there, but in a small side chapel de St. Jerome. 
Into this the Emperor led me, and there I stood, at the 
arm of Napoleon III., his nephew, before the coffin of 
England's bitterest foe; I, the grand-daughter of that 
King who hated him most and most vigorously opposed 
him, and this very nephew, who bears his name, being 
my nearest and dearest ally! The organ of the church 
was playing 'God Save the Queen' at the time, and this 
solemn scene took place by torchlight, and during a 
thunder-storm. Strange and wonderful indeed! It 
seems as if in this tribute of respect to a departed and 
dead foe, old enmities and rivalries were wiped out, and 
the seal of Heaven placed upon that bond of unity which 
is now happily established between two great and power- 
ful nations. May Heaven bless and prosper it!" 

On Saturday the Royal party visited the Palace of St. 



172 

Germains, where James II. of England lived and died in 
exile. In the evening the Emperor gave a splendid fete 
at Versailles, which outdid even the magnificence of the 
Hotel de Ville. Of this ball the Queen remarks: "It 
was one of the finest and most magnificent sights we had 
ever witnessed; there had not been a ball at Versailles 
since the time of Louis XVI., and the present one had 
been arranged after a print of a fete given by Louis XV." 
Sunday was again passed in quiet, and on Monday the 
homeward journey began. Boulogne was reached in the 
afternoon, and after a short rest, "We drove down," 
writes the Queen, "at once to the sands, where were as- 
sembled all the troops of the camp, thirty-six thousand 
infantry, besides cavalry, lancers, and dragoons, and the 
gendarmerie. We drove down the lines, which were im- 
mensely deep — quite a forst of bayonets. The effect they 
produced, with the background of the calm blue sea, and 
the seting sun, which threw a glorious crimson light 
over all — for it was six o'clock — was most magnificent. 
* * * Near the end of the march past our squadron 
saluted; and, indeed, is was one of the not least remark- 
able of the many striking events and contrasts with for- 
mer times which took place during this visit, that at this 
very place, on these very sands, Napoleon I. reviewed 
his army which was to invade England, Nelson's fleet ly- 
ing where our squadron lay, watching that very army. 
Now our squadron saluted Napoleon III. while his army 
was filing past the Queen of England, several of the 
bands playing 'Rule Britannia.' * * * We thanked 
the Emperor much for all his kindness and for this de- 
lightful visit. * * * It was past twelve when the 
Emperor left. * * * I shall always lookon this visit 
not only on account of the delightful and splendid things 



173 

we saw and enjoyed, but on the time we passed with the 
Emperor, as one of the pleasantest and most interesting 
periods of my life. The Empress, too, has a great charm, 
and we are all very fond of her." 

On the following morning, the Queen and Prince 
reached Osborne, and on the 7th of September, being, as 
the Prince wrote, "sorely in want of the moral rest and 
the bodily exercise," arrived at Balmoral, where the prin- 
pal part of the new house was ready for their reception. 
Here in close succession came telegrams conveying the 
welcome news from the seat of war, of the sinking of the 
Russian ships in the harbour, of the capture of the Mala- 
koff by the French, and, finally, that Sebastopol was in 
the hands of the Allies. On the receipt of this welcome 
news the Queen writes: "God be praised for it! Our 
delight was great; but we could hardly believe the good 
news, and from having so long, so anxiously expected 
it, one could not realise the actual fact. Albert said they 
should go at once and light the bonfire which had been 
prepared when the false report of the fall of the to vn ar- 
rived last year, and had remained ever since waiting to 
be lit. On the 5th of November, the day of the battle of 
Inkermann, the wind upset it, strange to say; and now 
again, most strangely, it only seemed to wait for our re- 
turn to be lit. The new house seems to be lucky indeed, 
for from the first moment of our arrival we have had 
good news." 

Another piece of good news, though of a different 
character, came to the Queen and Prince a few days lat- 
er — best described by an extract from the Queen's 
"Leaves from the Journal" : "September 29, 1855. Our 
dear Victoria was this day engaged to Prince Frederick 
William of Prussia, who had been on a visit to us since 



174 

the 14th. He had already spoken to us on the 20th of his 
wishes; but we were uncertain, on account of her ex- 
treme youth, whether he should speak to her himself, or 
wait till he came back again. However, we felt it was 
better he should do so; and during our ride up Crag-na- 
Ban this afternoon he picked a piece of white heather 
(the emblem of good luck), which he gave to her, and 
this enabled him to make an allusion to his hopes and 
wishes, as they rode down Glen Girnoch, which led to 
this happy conclusion." 

On the 2nd of January, 1856, the Queen opened Parlia- 
ment in person with the usual ceremonial. The Speech 
from the Throne, after mentioning the signal and impor- 
tant successes of the Allies, continued: "The naval and 
military preparations for the ensuing year have necessar- 
ily occupied my serious attention; but while determined 
to omit no effort which could give vigour to the opera- 
tions of the war, I have deemed it my duty not to de- 
cline any overtures which might reasonably afford a 
prospect of a safe and honourable peace. * * * Ne- 
gotiations for such a treaty will shortly be opened at 
Paris." 

On the 30th of March, 1856, at ten o'clock at night, 
the metropolis was aroused by the sound of a royal salute 
from St. James's Park, announcing the signature of the 
Treaty of Peace, which next day was officially pro- 
claimed, to the joy and relief of the nation. The public 
celebration of the national rejoicing took place on the 
29th of May, when the whole of London was brilliantly 
illuminated, and there were magnificent displays of fire- 
works from Hyde Park, the Green Park, Victoria Park, 
and Primrose Hill. 



175 

The news of the conclusion of an armistice had reached 
the Russian and the Allied Generals on the 28th of Feb- 
ruary, and the final evacuation of the Crimea took place 
on the 1 2th of July, when General Codrington formally 
gave up to the Russians Sebastopol and Balaclava. 

On the 20th of March the Princess Royal was con- 
firmed in the private chapel of Windsor Castle, her pa- 
rents, her godfather the King of the Belgians, most of 
the members of the Royal Family, the great officers of 
State, and the members of the household being present. 
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ox- 
ford took part in the ceremony. 

On the 16th of April Her Majesty paid a second visit 
to the wounded soldiers at Brompton Hospitals. About 
four hundred convalescent patients were drawn up in the 
barrack square and in the hospital; all who were able to 
leave their beds were assembled, and received from the 
Queen, whom they had so gallantly served, kind words 
and marks of interest more precious even than the lib- 
eral donations which were left for the aleviation of their 
sufferings. Two days afterwards the Queen and Prince 
made a formal visit to Aldershot Camp, the arangements 
of which were now considered as completed. Alighting 
at Farnborough Station, Her Majesty was received by 
General Knollys, the Commandant, with his Staff. On 
arriving at the Camp the Queen exchanged her carriage 
for a chestnut charger, on which she rode to inspect the 
troops. These amounted in number to about 14,000 men, 
among them being several fine regiments of militia. The 
Queen with the Prince and the Royal Family remained 
in the camp the same night, and on the following morn- 
ing witnessed a field-day, in which 18,000 troops took 
part. Her Majesty wore a Field Marshal's uniform, with 



176 

the star and riband of the Garter, a dark blue skirt and 
scarlet tunic. 

On the 23rd of the same month Spithead was the scene 
of a review by the Queen of the greatest naval force which 
up to that time had ever been assembled. Twenty-two 
steamships-of-the-line, of from 60 to 131 guns, 53 frig- 
ates and corvettes, 140 gunboats, 4 floating batteries, and 
50 mortar vessels and mortar boats, composed this mag- 
nificent fleet, the number of the guns being 3,002, and the 
engines working to an aggregate power of 30,671. The 
Queen's yacht, steaming through the fleet, which was 
anchored in a double line, was saluted by each ship. The 
gunboats then steamed down the line, passing in review 
before Her Majesty; after which the Royal yacht an- 
chored off the Nab Light, and was followed by the ships 
of the fleet under steam, who, passing round two pivots, 
returned in the same order to their former stations. 
These manoeuvres were executed with splendid accu- 
racy and precision in a sea crowded with every kind of 
craft, and thronged to the utmost limits of their capacity 
by enthusiastic spectators. After dark, on a calm, still 
night, the whole fleet was illuminated; the lines of the 
masts and yards were traced out with lamps, and blue 
lights burned at every port. 

On the 19th of May, 1856, the Queen crossed from 
Osborne to Netley, to lay the foundation-stone of the 
great Military Hospital. Writing next day to her uncle, 
Her Majesty says: — "Last week, but particularly on 
Sunday, it blew a fearful gale, and, if it had not mode- 
rated, we could not have performed the interesting cere- 
mony of laying the first stone of a large Military Hospi- 
tal, near Netley, the first of the kind in this country, 
and which is to bear my name, and be one of the finest 



177 

in Europe. Loving my dear brave Army as I do, and 
having seen so many of my poor sick and wonuded sol- 
diers, I shall watch over this work with maternal anxi- 
ety." 

By the beginning of July the greater part of the British 
troops had returned from the Crimea. A field-day and 
review of those who were in camp at Aldershot had been 
arranged for the 8th, but was greatly marred by incle- 
ment weather. At the close of the usual evolutions the 
Crimean regiments advanced and formed three sides of 
a square round the Royal carriage. The officers who had 
been under fire, together with four men of each com- 
pany and troop, stepped forward. The Queen's carriage 
was thrown open, and, rising from her seat, Her Majesty 
spoke to them as follows: — "Officers, non-commissioned 
officers, and soldiers! I wish personally to convey 
through you to the regiments assembled here this day 
my hearty welcome on their return to England in health 
and full efficiency. Say to them, that I have watched 
anxiously over the difficulties and hardships which they 
have so nobly borne, that I have mourned with deep sor- 
row for the brave men who have fallen in their country's 
cause, and that I have felt proud of that valour which, 
with their gallant allies, they have displayed on every 
field. I thank God that your dangers are over, while the 
glory of your deeds remains ; but I know that should your 
services be again required, you will be animated with the 
same devotion which in the Crimea has rendered you in- 
vincible." The Queen's words were received with an out- 
burst of cheering and waving of helmets, bearskins, and 
sabres. Next day London welcomed the Guards on 
their return home. The battalions marched from Vaux- 
hall, by the Houses of Parliament, past Buckingham 



178 

Palace, from the centre balcony of which they were seen 
by the Queen as they went by Constitution Hill to Hyde 
Park. Here they were met by the Prince, who was soon 
joined by Her Majesty, and in brilliant weather four bat- 
talions of household and three of Crimean troops passed 
before their Sovereign — the closing scene of a long and 
arduous war. 

The Court remained at Osborne till the 27th of Au- 
gust the Queen and Prince making occasional excursions 
by sea, among others one to Devon port, when the 
weather was so stormy that they were obliged to leave 
the yacht and return to Osborne by land. On the 30th 
Balmoral was reached, where the old house had now en- 
tirely disappeared. Here, as all over the kingdom, the 
weather continued cold, wet and stormy. Among the 
visitors at Balmoral, not the least honoured was Miss 
Florence Nightingale. On the 21st of September she 
was introduced to the Queen and Prince by Sir James 
Clark, with whom she was then staying at Birkhall. "She 
put before us," the Prince notes in his diary, "all tne de- 
fects of our present military hospital system, and the re- 
forms which are needed. We are much pleased with 
her; she is extremely modest." A fortnight afterwards 
Miss Nightingale was invited to Balmoral, the time of 
her visit being fixed to coincide with that of Lord Pan- 
mure, the Minister for War, so that he might have the 
opportunity of hearing from her own lips the story of 
what she had seen, and the conclusions she had drawn 
from her great and remarkable experience in the East. 

On the 16th of October the Court arrived at Windsor 
from Balmoral. From the begining of the next month 
the Queen heard the sad news that her half-brother, 
Prince Leiningen, had had a second stroke of paralysis; 



179 



from this he never recovered, and died at Wald-Leinin- 
gen on the 13th. The Queen felt her loss most keenly. 
Writing to her uncle on the 19th she says: "Oh, dearest 
uncle, this blow is a heavy one — my grief very bitter. I 
loved my dearest only brother most tenderly. You loved 
him, you knew how delightful a companion he was. 
. . . Mamma is terribly distressed, but calm and re- 
signed, tnd thinks that God has taken our poor, dear 
Charles in love and mercy to save him from more suffer- 
ing." Again, a fortnight later, Her Majesty writes: "I feel 
my loss very much. A sad, sad feeling comes over me 
just when I may seem happiest and most cheerful. We 
three were particularly fond of each other, and never felt 
or fancied that we were not real geschwister (children of 
the same parents). We knew but one parent, our moth- 
er, so we became very closely united, and so I grew up; 
the distance which difference of age placed between us 
entirely vanished. . . . God's will be done. No- 
vember has brought us another sad anniversary." 

The close of the year witnessed an event of no little 
interest. During the last English Arctic Expedition one 
of Her Majesty's ships, the Resolute, had been aban- 
doned in the ice. Sixteen months afterwards she was dis- 
covered by some American explorers and taken by them 
to America. There the derelict was refitted at the na- 
tion expense, and was sent to England by Congress as a 
present to the Queen. On the arrival of the vessel Her 
Majesty at once arranged to accept this gracious gift in 
person, and on the 16th of December proceeded on board 
for the purpose. The prompt and cordial courtesy of the 
Sovereign produced a great effect upon the Americans, 
who, as Lord Clarendon reported, "are most grateful to 
your Majesty, and, as Mr. Dallas (the American Minis- 



180 

ter) says, are overwhelmed with the kindness of their 
reception here." The formal surrender of the ship to the 
British Government took place on the 30th, when, after 
the last gun of the salute from the Victory had been fired, 
the American flag was lowered, and the Union Jack 
floated again at the peak. 

The year 1857, which was to end in such anxiety, open- 
ed in what seemed to be a prosperous and tranquil state. 
Europe was peaceful, and only in Persia and China was 
the nation in a state of hostility. On the 14th of April the 
Queen's youngest child was born, and two days after, 
the Queen heard with much grief of the sudden illness of 
her aunt, the Duchess of Gloucester, the last survivor of 
the family of George III. This most excellent and lov- 
able Princess died, at the age of eighty-one, on the 30th 
of the month. Of her the Queen writes, in a letter to 
King Leopold: "Her age and her being a link with by- 
gone times and generations, as well as her great kind- 
ness, amability and unselfishness, rendered her more and 
more dear and precious to us all, and we all looked upon 
her as a sort of grandmother. Her end was most peace- 
ful." To her memory the Queen has since erected an 
alabaster tomb in the south aisle of St. George's Chapel 
in Windsor Castle, where she is buried. 

The month of May was memorable for the opening of 
the marvelous Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester, 
a collection of works of art of every kind and description, 
but more particularly of pictures of all schools, the like 
of which has hardly ever been brought together. The 
exhibition afforded a remarkable proof of a fact which be- 
fore was not generally appreciated, namely, the enor- 
mous amount of works of art of the highest class gath- 
ered in the private collections throughout this country. 



181 

On the 19th of May the official announcement was 
made to Parliament, in a message from the Queen, of the 
intended marriage of the Princess Royal to Prince Fred- 
erick William of Prussia. The approval of the union by 
the representatives of the nation was manifested by the 
almost unanimous vote of the House of Comons to settle 
a dowry of £40,000, with an annuity of £4,000, upon the 
Princess Royal. A few weeks afterwards the Princess's 
youngest sister was christened in the private chapel at 
Buckingham Palace, receiving the names of Beatrice, 
Mary Victoria Feodora, the second of which was given 
in memory of the late Duchess of Gloucester. 

On the 25th of June an order of Council was issued, 
conferring by letters patent the title and dignity of Prince 
Consort upon His Royal Highness Prince Albert. Hith- 
erto the husband of the Queen had possessed no distinc- 
tive title, and no other place in Court ceremonial than 
that which he held by courtesy. This anomaly was now 
rectified. On the next day a ceremony of great interest 
took place in Hyde Park; this was the distribution to the 
gallant men who had earned it of the new decoration of 
the Victoria Cross. Up to this date there had been no 
badge or mark of distinction peculiarly destined to mark 
heroic deeds. Her Majesty, therefore, by Royal warrant, 
instituted a new naval and military decoration, to be des- 
ignated "The Victoria Cross," bearing the inscription 
"For Valour," to be given only to men who, serving be- 
fore the enemy, have performed some signal act of brav- 
ery or devotion to their country. Some time necessarily 
elapsed before the list of those entitled to this honour 
could be drawn up, and in order to inaugurate the insti- 
tution of the order with becoming ceremony, Her Maj- 
esty resolved to confer the decoration upon its recipients 



182 

in person. About 4,000 troops were drawn up in the 
Park, and more than 100,000 spectators assembled to 
witness the ceremony; the recipients of the Cross were 
sixty-two. Her Majesty, wearing a scarlet jacket with a 
black habit, and mounted on a grey roan, rode to the 
centre of the ground and pinned the Cross with her own 
hands upon the breast of each man as he was called up 
in turn. After all the brave warriors had received their 
decorations, Her Majesty reviewed the troops. On the 
29th, the Queen and Prince, with their four eldest chil- 
dren, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia, left Lon- 
don, in order to inspect the Art Treasures Exhibition at 
Manchester, which the Queen had not been able to visit 
earlier in the year. 

Towards the end of the month news arrived in Eng- 
land of the mutiny of the native regiments at Meerut on 
the 10th of May, and of the massacre by them of num- 
bers of English officers, women and children, followed by 
the retreat of the mutineers to Delhi, and the spread of 
mutiny among the troops there. For some time past the 
disaffection among the native troops had been known, 
and some regiments disbanded; but the receipt of the 
news of the outbreak showed that a danger had arisen 
which imperilled the lives of thousands of English wien, 
women and children, and menaced the very existence of 
the British Empire in the East. The Queen was espec- 
ially grieved that, owing to a mistaken economy, the 
army at home had been reduced in number, and wrote to 
Lord Panmure very seriously on the subject, concluding 
with the words, "If we had not reduced in such a hurry 
this spring, we should now have all the men wanted." 

The Queen and Prince spent the 17th and 18th of July 
at Aldershot in order to witness the evolutions of the 



183 

troops there assembled under General Knollys. Five 
regiments of cavalry and ten battalions of infantry with a 
large force of artillery and engineers were engaged. Her 
Majesty watched the movements of the troops on horse- 
back, wearing her usual military dress. A picture of the 
scene, painted by G. H. Thomas, is reproduced opposite 
page 144 by permission. In a memorandum sent by the 
Queen for communication to the Government on the 
measures to be taken to render her army able to cope with 
the demands made upon it by the increase of the Empire, 
and the pressing emergency of the Indian Mutiny, the 
concluding paragraph is as follows: "The present po- 
has just seen, in the camp at Aldershot, regiments which, 
sition of the Queen's army is a pitiable one. The Queen 
has just seen, in the camp at Aldershot, regiments which 
after eighteen years' foreign service, in most trying cli- 
mates, had come back to England to be sent out after 
seven months to the Crimea. Having passed through 
this destructive campaign, they have not been home for 
a year before they are to go to India for perhaps twenty 
years. This is most cruel and unfair to the gallant men 
who devote their services to the country, and the Gov- 
ernment is in duty and humanity bound to alleviate their 
position." Fortunately the heroic defenders of the Em- 
pire in India had not to wait for the reinforcements from 
home. The English regiments which had been de- 
spatched for the operations in China were, at the request 
of Lord Canning,the Governor-General, directed by Lord 
Elgin to be turned aside to Calcutta. Their arrival had 
an immediate influence in crushing the rebellion. 

It was not only the total absence in the army of any 
reserve which could be of use on emergency which caused 
the Queen anxiety. On the 19th of August the Royal 



184 

yacht, with the Queen and Prince and six of the Royal 
children on board, entered the harbour of Cherbourg. 
The visit was unexpected, and, after a stay of a couple of 
days, was brought to a close, the Victoria and Albert 
conveying Her Majesty to Alderney. Of this visit the 
Prince writes to Baron Stoekmar: "We made a delight- 
ful run to Cherbourg and Alderney. Cherbourg is a gi- 
gantic work that gives one grave cause for reflection. 
The works at Alderney, by way of counter-defence, look 
childish." The Queen's own comment was, "It makes 
me unhappy to see what is done here, and how well pro- 
tected the works are, for the forts and the breakwater 
(which is treble the size of the Plymouth one) are ex- 
tremely well defended." What they had seen caused the 
Queen to call for reports on the progress that had been 
made with the works of defence at Portsmouth and else- 
where, as it was felt to be of the utmost importance that 
a sudden descent upon our shores should not find the 
country defenceless. 

On the 29th of August, 1857, the Court arrived at Bal- 
moral, where the details awaited them of the tragedy of 
Cawnpore. Delhi was uncaptured, Lucknow unrelieved. 
A special day of fast and humiliation was ordered, which 
was kept on the 7th of October throughout the country 
with great solemnity. On the nth of October the Court 
returned to Windsor, having passed, on the way, a night 
at Haddo House, on a long-promised visit to Lord Aber- 
deen. From India news arrived of the capture of Delhi, 
and the victorious career of General Havelock. 

This cheering intelligence was saddened by a private 
sorrow. The Duchess of Nemours, first cousin to the 
Queen and the Prince Consort, who had given birth to a 
daughter on the 28th of October, died suddenly, on No- 



185 

vember ioth, at Claremont. In a letter to Baron Stock- 
mar the Prince writes: "The fresh disaster to which 
eventful November has given rise in eventful Claremont 
will have caused you deep emotion. I thought at once of 
you and of the old wounds which the similarity of the 
circumstances would re-open in your heart, just forty 
years and four days since poor uncle lost his darling wife 
in child-bed. Nemours has lost his dear, to us all so 
dear, Victorie ! in the room nearly above that in which the 
Princess Charlotte died." 

On Monday, the 25th of January, 1858, the Princess 
Royal was married at St. James's to Prince Frederick 
William of Prussia. The first marriage in the new gen- 
eration was made the occasion of much rejoicing and 
festivity in the metropolis. Four State representations 
were given at Her Majesty's Theatre; a State Ball was 
also held at Buckingham Palace. Of the ceremony itself 
the Queen has recorded in her Diary: "The sun was 
shining brightly; thousands had been out since very ear- 
ly, shouting, bells ringing, etc. Albert and uncle, in 
Field-Marshal's uniform, with batons, and the two eldest 
boys went first. Then the three girls in pink satin, trim- 
med with Newport lace, Alice with a wreath and the two 
others with only bouquets in their hair of cornflowers 
and marguerites; next the four boys in Highland dress. 
* * * Then the procession was formed, just as at 
my marriage, mama last before me — then Lord Palmer- 
ston with the sword of State, then Bertie and Alfred. I 
with the two little boys on either side (which they say had 
a most touching effect) and the three girls behind." This 
extract exactly describes the group, reproduced opposite 
page 152, from the picture by John Philip, R.A., of the 
marriage ceremony. When this was over, the newly- 



186 

married couple drove down from St. James's to -oucking- 
ham Palace, whence they proceeded to Windsor, to 
which two days afterwards the Court removed, and on 
the following day the bridegroom was invested with the 
Order of the Garter. On the 2nd of February came the 
parting, the bitterness of which not even the thought of 
the brilliant future, which lay before the Princes, could 
soften. 

Striking proof was given, at the beginning of the year 
1858, that the apprehension of the Queen and Prince as 
to the state of the army and the national defences, and 
the want of preparation against sudden danger were not 
groundless. Ten days before the Royal wedding occur- 
red the attempt by Orsini and others to assassinate the 
Emperor of the French. The plot, prepared by them in 
England, was executed on the evening of January 14th, 
as the Emperor and Empress arrived in their carriage at 
the Opera House. Though the intended victims escaped 
almost uninjured, ten of the surrounding crowd were 
killed and one hundred and fifty-six wounded. The vio- 
lent language, used in France against this country, not 
only provoked extreme indignation on this side of the 
Channel, but led to the subsequent formation of the great 
Volunteer force, which now is looked upon as a valuable 
and necessary addition to the forces of the Crown for the 
purpose of national defence. 

On the 2nd of August, 1859, the Queen bestowed the 
Victoria Cross on twelve men who had won the distinc- 
tion, some in the Crimea, some in India, and on the same 
day was published the Act for the transfer of the Gov- 
ernment of India to Her Majesty from the old East India 
Company. 



187 

Two days later, the Queen and Prince Consort, with 
the Prince of Wales, embarked at Osborne to visit in 
state the great arsenal at Cherbourg, which they had seen 
privately the year before. The reception to the Royal 
visitors, given, as it was, at the very height of the friend- 
ship between the sovereigns, was, if noise constitutes 
welcome, hearty indeed. Never, in time of peace, had 
such a cannonade been heard. 

Returning to England, the Queen and Prince Consort 
embarked, a few days later, for another visit to the Con- 
demonstrative. Questions of reform at home, and dan- 
ger of war between France and Austria on the question 
tinent, this time as the guests of their daughter in her 
own home. At Magdeburg they were met by Prince 
Frederick William, who escorted them to Wildpark Sta- 
tion, where the Princess Royal met her mother for the 
first time since her marriage. This happy visit lasted till 
August 27th, and on the 31st the Queen and Prince 
reached Portsmouth, to learn that Prince Alfred had just 
passed an excellent examination for the Navy. 

On their way to Scotland, on the 6th of September, 
the Queen and Prince stopped at Leeds, a city which no 
British sovereign had ever before visited, and opened the 
New Town Hall — a building second only to St. George's 
Hall at Liverpool in size and beauty. The reception ac- 
corded them was enthusiastic in the extreme. From Bal- 
moral the Court moved, on the 19th of October, to 
Windsor, where another gap in the family circle was cre- 
ated by the departure of Prince Alfred to join the Eury- 
alus, which was attached to the Mediterranean fleet for 
two years. 

The first month of the year 1859 brought with it one 
piece of good news, to mitigate the anxiety caused by the 



188 

critical condition of affairs on the Continent. This was 
the birth of the first child of the Princess Frederick Wil- 
liam, the Queen thus becoming a grandmother at the age 
of forty. "The joy and interest taken here," the Queen 
writes from England to King Leopold, "are as great as 
in Prussia, which is very gratifying." 

On the 3rd of February, 1859, Her Majesty opened 
Parliament in person, and her reception was, owing to 
the excited state of public feeling, unusually cordial and 
of the possession of Lombardy, were the principal causes 
of disquietude. By the beginning of May all hope of avert- 
ing war, though it had not been officially declared, was 
abandoned; and the struggle which was to end in such 
momentous consequences to Italy had begun. A disso- 
lution of Parliament had just taken place, followed by 
a general election, and on the 7th of June Her Majesty 
opened her new Parliament. In the House of Lords the 
address was carried without a division, but in the House 
of Commons an amendment, expressive of want of confi- 
dence, was carried, and on the resignation of Lord Der- 
by, Lord Palmerston was entrusted with the formation of 
the Ministry. The prorogation on the 13th of August 
set the Queen and Prince free to seek fresh air and rest 
in a short excursion to the Channel Islands, followed by 
their departure for the Highlands. On the 14th of Oc- 
tober, their journey south was interrupted in order that 
the Queen might open at Loch atrine the waterworks 
by which the town of Glasgow was supplied. On the 
same journey a visit was paid to Penrhyn Castle, near 
Bangor, where the famous slate quarries were inspected, 
and the singing of the workmen was much admired. The 
Princess Royal arrived with her husband from Berlin in 
time for the Prince of Wales's birthday, on the 9th of 



189 

November; they stayed till the 3rd of the following 
month, to the great delight of their parents. Christmas 
was spent at Windsor. 

"We began i860 very peaceably and happily," the 
Queen writes, on the 3rd of January, to King Leopold, 
"and I never remember spending a pleasanter New 
Year's Day, surrounded by our children and dear 
mama." The Queen again opened Parliament on the 
24th of January, and was accompanied for the first time 
by the Princesses Alice and Helena. In the early part 
of the year year was published the first series of the 
Idylls of the King, afterwards dedicated to the memory 
of Prince Albert. Though the aspect of affairs at home 
was bright, the Italian policy of the French Emperor and 
his dsigns upon Savoy were disquieting. His continued 
restlessness, the large additions to his army, and the 
great increase to his fleet, alarmed the country. In re- 
sponse to these threatening demonstrations, the inade- 
quacy of the national defences, and the plans for neces- 
sary measures to be taken, were subjects of prolonged 
debate in Parliament. At the same time, the enthusiasm 
of the nation, now thoroughly aroused to its danger, 
caused an enormous increase in the number and effi- 
ciency of the Volunteer force. Of these citizens soldiers 
the Queen held a great review in Hyde Park on the 23d 
of June, when 21,000 men passed before Her Majesty. 
Later in the year, on the way to Balmoral, the Queen at 
Edinburgh inspected the Scottish volunteers, of whom 
18,000 marched past in review order beneath Arthur's 
Seat. Of the whole force the Prince, who took the 
warmest interest in the movement, writes : "The Volun- 
teers have already run up to 124,000 men, and make an 
excellent appearance — a proof there is no lack of patriot- 



190 

ism in the country." On the 2d of July the Queen, who 
had become Patron of the National Rifle Association, 
opened its first meeting at Wimbledon, and fired the 
first shot at a target on this historic ground, and made 
the first bull's-eye ever scored upon its targets. The 
Queen's Prize has always been the blue ribbon of the 
annual competition. 

In June, i860, the Prince, writing to Baron Stockmar, 
announced a piece of news of much family interest: "The 
two young Princes of Hesse-Darmstadt leave England 
to-day, and have just taken leave. There is no doubt 
that the eldest (Louis) and Alice have formed a mutual 
liking, and although the visit fortunately has passed over 
without any declaration, I have no doubt that it will lead 
to further advances from the young gentleman's family. 
We should not be averse to such an alliance, as the fam- 
ily is good and estimable, and the young man is unex- 
ceptionable in morals, manly, and both in body and mind 
distinguished by youthful freshness and vigor. As heir- 
presumptive to the Grand Duchy his position would, 
moreover, not be unsuitable. . . . The Queen and 
myself look on as passive observers, which is undoubt- 
edly our best course, as matters at present stand." A 
month later the Princess Charles of Hesse, mother of 
Prince Louis, informed the Princess Frederick William 
of her son's attachment, and by her this was communi- 
cated to the Queen. An extract, sent at the same time, 
of a letter from the young Prince himself, produced such 
an impression upon the Queen and the Prince Consort 
that they felt bound to ascertain the state of their daugh- 
ter's feelings. The result was such as to justify the en- 
couragement of the young Prince's hopes. No engage- 
ment was made; but some months later Prince Louis 






191 

was to return, and have an opportunity of pressing his 
suit in person. A few weeks later came the news that to 
the Princess Frederick William was born a daughter, 
and to the Queen and Prince a second grandchild. To 
the mother her father wrote on the 28th of July from 
Osborne: "The little girl must be a darling. Little girls 
are much prettier than boys. I advise her to model 
herself after her Aunt Beatrice. That excellent lady has 
not now a moment to spare. T have no time/ she says, 
when she is asked for anything; T must write letters to 
my niece.' " 

On the 8th of August the Court arrived at Balmoral, 
and an interesting account is given, in the "Leaves from 
the Journal of our Life," of an expedition to Glen Fishie 
and Grantown. Attended by only Lady Churchill and 
General Grey, the Queen and Prince passed two days in 
the wildest scenery of the Highlands, traveling unrecog- 
nized as "Lord and Lady Churchill and party." Shortly 
after the return South, on the 2.2A of September, the 
Queen and the Prince Consort, with Princess Alice, left 
Gravesend in the Victoria and Albert, on their way to 
Coburg. Here they were welcomed by the Duke and 
Duchess of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, and had the additional 
delight of seeing again the Prince and Princess Fred- 
erick William of Prussia. But the festivities which were 
intended to enliven their visit were prevented by the 
death of the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg. 

The Royal travelers left Coburg on the 12th of Octo- 
ber, passing through Coblentz and Aix-la-Chapelle to 
Antwerp, where the yacht re^embarked her passengers 
and brought them to Gravesend on the 17th. During 
the stay at Coburg the Prince narrowly escaped a serious 
carriage accident. In thankfulness for his escape, the 



192 

Queen founded a permanent charity in the town of Co- 
burg, from which a benevolent distribution should be 
made annually on the ist of October, the day of the 
Prince's escape. This trust, called the Victoria-Stift 
(Victoria foundation), still provides means for appren- 
ticing or helping a number of young men and women 
just entering life in the way of earning their own liveli- 
hood. On the 9th of November Prince Alfred arrived 
safely from his visit to the Cape, and on the 10th the 
Prince of Wales returned home after his memorable visit 
to Canada and the United States. On the 30th another 
event of deep interest to the family took place, described 
by the Queen in her Diary. "After dinner, while talking 
to the gentlemen, I perceived Alice and Louis talking 
before the fire-place more earnestly than usual, and, 
when I passed to go to the other room, both came up to 
me, and Alice in much agitation said he had proposed to 
her, and he begged for my blessing. I could only 
squeeze his hand and say 'Certainly,' and that we would 
see him in our room later. Got through the evening, 
working as well as we could; Alice came to our room 
. agitated but quiet. . . . Albert sent for 
Louis to his room — went first to him, and then called 
Alice and me in. . . . Louis has a warm, noble 
heart." The welcome news of the satisfactory conclu- 
sion of the war with China contributed to the enjoyment 
of the Christmas festivities at Windsor. 

The condition of the country at the beginning of 1861, 
when the Queen on the 5th of February opened Parlia- 
ment in person, was tranquil and prosperous. Abroad 
were difficulties, the most ominous being the rupture 
between the northern and southern portions of the 
United States; and the Italian question also caused the 



193 

Queen and Prince much anxiety. The ioth of February 
was the twenty-first anniversary of the Queen's wedding, 
of which the Queen wrote to her uncle as "a day which 
has brought to us, and I may say to the world at large, 
such incalculable blessings! Very few can say with me, 
that this husband at the end of twenty-one years is not 
only full of the friendship, kindness, and affection which 
a truly happy marriage brings with it, but of the same 
tender love as in the very first days of our marriage. 
We missed dear mama and three of our children, but 
had six dear ones round us." The Duchess of Kent, 
who was so missed at this gathering, never again joined 
the family circle. On the 15th of March the alarming 
news was brought to Buckingham Palace that Her 
Royal Highness had been seized with a shivering fit. 
With all possible speed the Queen and Prince hastened 
to Frogmore, to find the Duchess unconscious. She 
passed away on the morning of the next day. The loss 
of her mother was the deepest sorrow which the Queen 
had ever felt. Writing to her uncle the same day, Her 
Majesty says: "She is gone — that precious, dearly be- 
loved, tender mother, whom I have never parted from 
but for a few months — without whom I cannot imagine 
life — has been taken from us! It is too dreadful! But 
she is at peace!" 

In this great sorrow the Queen was supported by a 
husband's love. It was also no small consolation to feel 
that the heart of the whole nation sympathized with her 
in her loss. Addresses of condolence were voted in both 
Houses of Parliament. "In the history of our reigning 
house," said Mr. Disraeli, who seconded the Address in 
the House of Commons, "none were ever placed as the 
widowed Princess and her royal child. Never before 



194 

developed upon a delicate sex a more august or more 
awful responsibility. How these great duties were en- 
countered — how fulfilled — may be read in the con- 
science of a grateful and a loyal people. Therefore the 
name of the Duchess of Kent will remain in our history 
from its interesting and benignant connection with an 
illustrious reign. For the great grief which has fallen 
upon the Queen there is only one source of human con- 
solation — the recollection of unbroken devotedness to 
the being whom we have loved and whom we have lost. 
That tranquilizing and sustaining memory is the in- 
heritance of our Sovereign. She who reigns over us has 
elected, amid all the splendor of Empire, to establish her 
life on the principle of domestic love. It is this, it is the 
remembrance and consciousness of this, which -now sin- 
cerely saddens the public spirit, and permits a nation to 
bear its heartfelt sympathy to the foot of a bereaved 
throne, and to whisper solace to a royal heart." 

The funeral of the Duchess took place on March 25th 
in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, where the remains were 
deposited till the completion of a mausoleum in the 
grounds of Frogmore. The death of the Duchess of 
Kent added much to the labors of the Prince Consort, 
upon whom unremitting work had begun seriously to 
tell. He was much occupied with the anxious state of 
affairs in Europe, and the preparations for the Interna- 
tional Exhibition of 1862, which he was never to see, en- 
gaged much of his thoughts. When on the 5th of June 
he appeared, for the last time, at a public ceremonial, in 
order to open the Royal Horticultural Gardens at South 
Kensington, it was noticed how pale and worn he looked, 
and a much-needed move was made to Osborne, where 
the whole of July was passed. 



195 

On the 2 1 st of August the Queen and Prince, with the 
Princesses Alice and Helena and Prince Alfred, crossed 
in the Royal yacht from Holyhead to Dublin. Landing 
next morning at Kingstown, they took up their residence 
in the Vice-regal Lodge in the Riding Park. On the 
24th a grand review of about 10,000 troops in the Cur- 
ragh Camp was held, but the spectacle was unfortu- 
nately spoiled by rain. Two days later they left Dublin, 
and spent some days in the enjoyment of the magnificent 
scenery at Killarney, where they stayed on a visit with 
Lord Kenmare at Kenmare House, and with Mr. Her- 
bert at Muckross Abbey. On the 29th the journey was 
resumed by Dublin to Holyhead and on to Balmoral. 
In "Leaves from the Journal" details are given of the 
expeditions made by the Royal family through the High- 
lands in the same manner as those of the previous year. 
The description of that made on the 16th of October 
concludes with the words, "We returned at twenty min- 
utes to seven o'clock, much pleased and interested with 
this delightful expedition. Alas! I fear our last great 
one! 

(It was our last one ! — 1867.)" 

The Court returned to Windsor on the 24th of Octo- 
ber. For a short time the Prince seemed to be in fair 
health, and was able to attend as usual to the many mat- 
ters of interest that claimed his attention. The deaths of 
the young King of Portugal and his brother, however, 
within a few days of each other, gave him a severe shock. 
Still he continued, though feeling very unwell, and suf- 
fering much from sleeplessness, to take an active part in 
public affairs. On the 22d of November he went over to 
Sandhurst to inspect the buildings for the new Staff Col- 



196 

lege and the Royal Military Academy, in which he had 
taken the keenest interest. The fatgue of this journey 
and the exposure to incessant rain had a most injurious 
effect. From this time he was in constant suffering from 
rheumatic pain, and to this were added the depression 
and weakness caused by continued want of sleep. On 
the 25th he paid, in cold and stormy weather, a visit to 
the Prince of Wales at Cambridge. On the 28th the 
alarming news arrived of the outrage by the Americans 
on the British flag, when the steamer Trent was boarded 
in mid-ocean by Captain Wilkes of the San Jacinto, and 
Messrs. Mason and Slidell, the envoys accredited by the 
Confederated States to England and to France, were 
removed by force from its protection. The news was 
received in England with such indignation and excite- 
ment, that to ordinary observers it appeared as if war 
was inevitable. It was then that the drafts of the** de- 
spatches which it was proposed by the Cabinet to send 
to Lord Lyons at Washington were carefully read over 
by the Prince, and early in the morning of the 1st of 
December he was able, though suffering much from 
weakness, to draft the last memorandum that he ever 
wrote. The document led to the removal from the de- 
spatch of everything which could irritate a proud and 
sensitive nation, and afforded the United States an op- 
portunity for receding from the position in which they 
had been placed by the overzealous action of their agent. 
The conciliatory tone of the amended despatch had its 
due effect; the news of the liberation of the prisoners 
reached London on the 9th of January, 1862, and was 
communicated to the Queen on the same day. Her 
Majesty, in the depth of her sorrow, replied: "Lord Pal- 
merston cannot but look on this peaceful issue of the 



197 

American quarrel as greatly owing to her beloved 
Prince, who wrote the observations on the draft to Lord 
Lyons, in which Lord Palmerston so entirely concurred. 
It was the last thing he ever wrote." Lord Palmerston 
in his answer, on the 12th of January, wrote as follows: — 
"As Your Majesty observes, the alterations made in the 
despatch to Lord Lyons contributed essentially to the 
satisfactory settlement of the dispute. But these altera- 
tions were only one of innumerable instances of the tact 
and judgment, and the power of nice discrimination 
which excited Lord Palmerston's constant and un- 
bounded admiration." 

Meanwhile the Prince was slowly losing strength. He 
slept little, and could take no nourishment; but he rose 
and endeavored to exert himself. He had, on the 29th 
of November, witnessed the march past of the Eton Col- 
lege Volunteers, though conscious that his strength was 
overtaxed by the exertion. "Unhappily, I must be pres- 
ent," is the note in his Diary, and it is the last entry in it. 

On the 7th of December typhoid fever was declared. 
All went well till the 12th, when the lungs became af- 
fected, and on the 14th the end came. By the bedside 
knelt the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Alice 
and Princess Helena. To quote the words of Sir Theo- 
dore Martin: "In the solemn hush of that mournful 
chamber there was such grief as has rarely hallowed any 
deathbed. A great light which had blessed the world, 
and which the mourners had but yesterday hoped might 
long bless it, was waning fast away. A husband, a 
father, a friend, a master, endeared by every quality by 
which man in such relations can win the lov e of h is 
fellow-man, was passing into the Silent Land, and his 
loving glance, his wise counsels, his firm, manly thoughts 



198 

should be known among- them no more. The Castle 
clock chimed the third quarter after ten. Calm and 
peaceful grew the beloved form; the features settled into 
the beauty of a perfectly serene repose; two or three long, 
but gentle, breaths were drawn; and that great soul had 
fled, to seek a nobler scope for its aspirations in the world 
within the veil, for which it had often yearned, where 
there is rest for the weary, and where the spirits of the 
just are made perfect." 



CHAPTER EIGHT. 

LATER YEARS; 1861-1897. 

At midnight on the 14th of December, 1861, the tolling 
of the great bell of St. Paul's had announced to the citi- 
zens of London the mournful tidings of the Prince Con- 
sort's death, but large numbers of the people first learn, 
by the omission of the name from the Litany, what a 
blow had fallen on their Queen. On every side was 
heard the sympathetic outburst of grief for the Sovereign 
so early widowed. 

The wreck of the Queen's domestic happiness, and the 
loss of that support which had divided the burthens and 
lightened the cares of sovereignty, were felt by all classes 
of her subjects as a private as well as public calamity. No 
such affliction had fallen upon the nation since the death 
of the Princess Charlotte, and the universal feeling of 
sorrow has never been surpassed in its depth and sin- 
cerity. In the general mourning for Princess Charlotte 
a note of sympathetic compassion was struck by the fate 
of a young and beautiful Princess suddenly removed at 
the most interesting crisis of a woman's life. The tribute 
which the nation paid to Prince Albert was different in 
character, though not less heartfelt. Gratitude for the 
great services which he had rendered to the country, for 
the example of moral purity he had displayed, and for the 
salutary influence he had exercised in his exalted sta- 



200 

tion, admiration for his remarkable talents and accom- 
plishments, respect for the wisdom with which he had 
kept himself clear from the conflicts of political parties, 
and appreciation of the self-effacing modesty with which 
he had so ably aided the Queen in all the affairs of State 
these were the sentiments that inspired the addresss of 
condolnce which were sent up from every part of the 
United Kingdom. To the addresses of the Houses of 
Parliament meeting in February, the Queen replied: "I 
return to you my most sincere thanks for your dutiful and 
affectionate address, especially for the manner in which 
you have assured me of your feelings on the irreparable 
loss sustained by mlself and the country, in the afflicting 
dispensation of Providence which bows me to the earth." 
But, prostrated as she was by the burthen of a sorrow 
which never could pass away, the Queen, strengthened 
by the cherished example of the loving counselor she had 
lost, resolutely overcame her physical exhaustion and the 
depression of inconsolable grief, and fulfilled those ardu- 
ous duties, the performance of which she regarded as a 
sacred trust for her family and people. Speaking on this 
subject some years afterwards, a statesman of high rank 
remarked: "It is a circumstance worthy of observation, 
and which ought to be known to all the people of this 
country, that during all the years of the Queen's afflic- 
tion, during which she has lived necessarily in compara- 
tive retirement, she has omitted no part of that public 
duty which concerns her as Sovereign of this country; 
and I am sure that when the Queen reapears on more 
public occasions, the people of this country will regard 
her only with increased affection, from the recollection 
that during all the time of her care and sorrow she has 
devoted herself, without one day's intermission, to those 



201 



cares of government which belong to her position." 

The funeral of the Prince Consort took place on Mon- 
day the 23rd of December, 1861, in St. George's Chapel. 
The remains were removed from the Castle and tempo- 
rarily deposited in the entrance to the Royal Vault, where 
they were to remain until the completion and consecra- 
tion of a mausoleum to be afterwards erected. The site 
for this building had been chosen by the Queen herself 
on the 1 8th, when with rPincess Alice she drove to the 
gardens at Frogmore for that purpose. 

The Queen had before the funeral left Windsor to 
spend a sad and desolate Christmas at Osborne. Such 
consolation as was possible in a grief so overwhelming 
was afforded by the presence of the King of the Belgians 
and of the Princess of Hohenlohe, her half-sister. But 
Her Majesty had already learnt that the only anodyne 
to personal grief is sympathy with the sorrows of others. 
When the terrible disaster happened at Hartley Colliery, 
by which the whole male population of three hamlets had 
been swept away, Sir Charles Phipps writes by the 
Queen's command : 'The appalling news has afflicted 
the Queen very much. Her Majesty commands me to 
say that her tenderest sympathy is with the poor widows 
and mothers, and that her own misery only makes her 
feel the more for them." 

On the 6th of February, 1862, the Queen took leave of 
the Prince of Wales, who, in pursuance of the scheme for 
his education laid down by the Prince Consort, left Eng- 
land for the tour, which had been for some time arranged, 
to Egypt and the Holy Land. The most memorable in- 
cident of this tour was the visit paid by the Prince and his 
suite to the Mosque of Hebron, which covers the Cave of 



202 

Machpelah. Into this sacred building no European or 
Christian had been, up to this time, permitted to enter, 
and it was not without some difficulty, Jand even danger, 
that the visit was accomplished. It has been fully de- 
scribed by Dean Stanley, who accompanied the Prince 
on his journey. The party returned on the 14th of June, 
in time for the marriage of the Princess Alice with Prince 
Louis of Hesse. 

At the time o fthe death of the rPince Consort, the 
Princess Alice had been the principal support of the bro- 
ken-hearted Queen. Though herself filled with intense 
sorrow at the death of her beloved father, she became at 
once the means of communication between the outer 
world and her mother, whom she strove to shield from 
every possible trouble. The decision to leave Windsor 
for Osborne directly after the Prince's death, according 
to the earnest wish of the King of the Belgians, which it 
was so difficult for the Queen to make, was obtained by 
the rPincess's influence. For the Queen to part from 
one who had thus become necessary to her was a terrible 
struggle, but it had been the desire of the Prince Consort 
that the marriage should take place during the early part 
o fthe year, and it was, therefore, only postponed to the 
1st of July, when it was solemnized at Osborne. Though 
the ceremony was simple and private, it may be doubted 
whether any royal marriage excited keener interest and 
profoundr sympathy in the mass of the people, who had 
so highly appreciated the strength of mind and self-sac- 
rifice shown by the Princess Alice during the dreadful 
days of her father's illness and death, and who were 
aware that to her exertions it was to a great measure due 
that the Queen was able to bear with such fortitude her 
own irreparable loss. 



203 

The Queen passed the autumn in seclusion at Balmo- 
ral; here on the 21st of August was begun the cairn in 
memory of the Prince. In "More Leaves from the Jour- 
nal" the Queen writes: "At eleven o'clock started * * 
* for Craig Lowrigan. . . . Here at the top is 
the foundation of the Cairn — forty feet wide — to be erect- 
ed to my precious Albert, which will be seen all down the 
valley. I and my poor six orphans all placed stones on 
it; and our initials as well as those of the three absent 
ones are to be carved on stones all around it." 

On the 1st of September the Queen, accompanied by 
several of her family, left England for Germany, paying 
on the way a brief visit to King Leopold . at Laeken 
There for the first time the Queen met the Princess Alex- 
andra of Denmark, soon to become Princess of Wales. 
From Laeken the Queen went to Rheinhardtsbrunn in 
Thuringia, where she was joined by the Crown Prince 
and Princess of Prussia, by Princess Alice with her hus- 
band, and by Prince Alfred. 

On the 1 8th of December, 1862, the remains of the 
Prince Consort were transferred from St. George's Chap- 
el to the Mausoleum which had just been built for their 
reception by Her Majesty in the grounds of Frogmore, 
not far from the spot where the Duchess of Kent had 
been laid. 

The Prince of Wales had met the Princess Alexandra 
at Heidelberg in the autumn of 1861, when a mutual at- 
tachment had been formed; but the death of the Prince 
Consort had postponed any announcement of an engage- 
ment. It was not till the 4th of November, 1862, that the 
Queen gave public consent to the marriage, and the 
Princess came for a brief visit to Osborne. In February, 



204 

1863, the Prince of Wales took the oath and his seat in 
the House of Lords, and in the House of Commons reso- 
lutions were passed for the establishment and mainte- 
nance of His Royal Highness's household on a proper 
scale. The alacrity shown by aPrliament in thus making 
a suitable provision expressed the universal feeling of 
satisfaction in the proposed union. The Prince had gain- 
ed the personal regard of all those with whom he had 
been brought into contact, while the beauty and charm 
of the Princess won every heart. At the same time the 
alliance with Denmark, by the complete absence of State 
interests, and of those political aims to which the domes- 
tic happiness of princes has been too often sacrificed, 
strongly appealed to the sympathy of the nation. 

The Princess landed at Gravesend on the 7th of March, 
and never to any person in the history of the kingdom 
has a warmer welcome been offered. Through the City, 
which was approached by London Bridge, there was one 
immense concourse of enthusiastic crowds. In Hyde 
Park were drawn up 17,000 volunteers, between whose 
ranks the procession passed to Paddington. The recep- 
tion at Eton was as warm as that of London, and the 
illuminations at Windsor closed a memorable day. On 
the 10th the marriage was solemnized with great pomp in 
St. George's Chapel, the rPince and the other knights 
wearing their robes. The Queen herself took no part in 
the ceremony, but witnessed the whole from the windows 
of the Royal closet above the north side of the altar. 

On the 9th of May the Queen, accompanied by the 
Princess Alice, paid a visit to the Military Hospital at 
Netley, the foundation stone of which she had, with the 
Prince Consort, laid nearly seven years before. Though 



205 

her features bore the traces of deep and abiding sorrow, 
she bore with firmness the fatigue o fher long walk 
through the hospital, and the trying scenes which she 
witnessed. In August and September the Queen paid a 
vis'it to Belgium and Germany, staying for some time 
with King Leopold and passing on to the Rosenau, the 
birthplace of the Prince Consort. On the journey home, 
she spent a day with Princess Alice at Kranichstein, near 
Darmstadt. 

The first public appearance of the Queen since the 
death of her hsuband was made on the 13th of October, 
when Her Majesty unveiled the statue which had been 
erected to the memory of the Prince Consort at Aber- 
deen. In her reply to the address of the Provost, the 
Queen said: "I could not reconcile it to mlself to remain 
at Balmoral while such a tribute was being paid to his 
memory, without making an exertion to assure you per- 
sonally of the deep and heartfelt sense I entertain of your 
kindness and affection ; and, at the same time, to proclaim 
in public the unbounded reverence and admiration, the 
devoted love that fills my heart for him whose loss must 
throw a lasting gloom over all my future life." 

On the 8th of January, 184, the Queen received at Os- 
borne from the Prince of Wales the glad news of the 
birth at Frogmore of a rPince, who, on the 10th of March 
following the first anniversary of the wedding of his pa- 
rents, was christened at Buckingham Palace, receiving 
the names of Albert Victor Christian Edward. The ad- 
vent of a male heir in direct succession to the Throne 
was a source of much joy and consolation to the Queen 
and to the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as of 
gratification to the whole nation. 



206 

On the 24th of May the anniversary of Her Majesty's 
birthday was kept this year with the old outward tokens 
of rejoicing, which had not been observed since the year 
1 861. On her way to Balmoral in the autumn, the Queen 
unveiled a statue which had been erected by her loyal 
subjects of Perth to ths Prince Consort. 

During the year 1865 the Queen remained in seclusion, 
attending to all affairs of State, but seldom appearing in 
public. On the 24th of March she visited the Consump- 
ion Hospital at Brompton, the first stone of which had 
been laid by the Prince Consort in 1844. Her Majesty 
was much interested in the hospital, and spent some time 
in examining the wards and noticing the patients, of 
whom there were upwards of two hundred. On the 8th 
of August Her Majesty, accompanied by Prince Leopold 
and the Princesses Helena, Louise, and Beatrice, em- 
barked at Woolwich for Germany, and, arriving at Co- 
burg on the nth, proceeded at once to Rosneau. On 
the 26th the Queen inaugurated the memorial statue 
which had been erected to her late husband in his native 
town. The solemn and elaborate ceremony reached its 
climax when the Queen, leaving her pavilion, walked 
with her family to the monument, and laid at the feet of 
the statue the flowers which she had brought for the 
purpose. 

On her return homewards, the Queen saw for the last 
time her loved and respected uncle, King Leopold. He 
died at Laeken on the 9th of the following December, 
within a few days of completing his seventy-fifth year. 
Small and new as was his kingdom, he yet ocupied a po- 
sition which the most powerful monarch might envy. 
International disputes were referred to him for settle- 



207 

ment, the secrets of most royal houses were in his keep- 
ing, and private as well as public grievances were sub- 
mitted to his arbitration; he was known everywhere by 
the title of Juge de Paix de l'Europe. As son-in-law of 
the King of the French and uncle of Queen Victoria, he 
was able to mediate with great effect between the two 
countries, both in 1840 on the Eastern question, and 
later in the more irritating disputes about the Spanish 
marriages. Throughout the whole of the Queen's life he 
had been her trusted counsellor, confidant, and friend, 
and. his loss, following on that of her mother and her 
husband, left her more completely alone. 

A happier event this year was the birth on the 3rd of 
June of the second son of the Prince and Princess of 
Wales, now Duke of York. After the return of the Court 
from Germany, the Queen spent the remainder . of the 
autumn at Balmoral, whence excursions were made to 
Invermark and to Dunkeld to visit the wodowed Duchess 
of Athole, who, whilst these pages are passing through 
the press, has also been taken away. 

On the 6th of February, 1866, the Queen, who since 
the death of the Prince Consort had not entered the 
walls of the Palace of Westminster, opened aPrliament 
in person, to the great joy of both Houses and of all her 
subjects. In the Speech from the Throne Her Majesty 
declared her consent to the marriage of the Princess Hel- 
ena with Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonder- 
burg-Augustenburg, which marriage was solemnized on 
the 5th of July in the private chapel of Windsor Castle. 
On the 13th of March, after an interval of five years, the 
Queen visited Aldershot and reviewed the troops there in 
garrison. The visit was repeated on the 5th of April, 



208 

when new colours were presented by Her Majesty^ to the 
89th Regiment, now the 2nd Battalion of the Princess 
Victoria's Royal Irish Fusiliers, the regiment to which 
the Queen, as Princess Victoria, had presented colours in 
1833. 

Affairs on the Continent at this time were a source of 
deep anxiety to the Queen, particularly because in the 
war between Austria and Prussia her tow sons-in-law, 
the husband of the Princess Royal and of Princess Alice, 
were engaged upon opposite sides. While the conflict 
was raging round her home Princess Alice gave birth to 
a daughter who, when the war came to an end, received 
the name of Irene. 

On the 1 6th of October the Queen journeyed from 
Balmoral to Invercannie, twenty-two miles from Aber- 
deen, in order to open the new works just completed for 
the supply of water to the city. Of her reply to the ad- 
dress of the Provost, the Queen in "More Leaves from the 
journal" writes: "Then I had to read my answer, which 
made me very nervous ; but I got through it well, though 
it was the first time I had read anything since my dar- 
ling husband was taken from me." In this answer the 
Queen said, "I have felt that, at a time when the atten- 
tion of the country has been so anxiously di- 
rected to the state of the public health, it was right that 
I should make an exertion to testify my sense of the 
importance of a work so well calculated as this to pro- 
mote the health and comfort of your ancient city." 

At Wolverhampton, on the 30th of November, the 
Queen, accompanied by Prince and Princess Christian 
and Princess Louise, unveiled a statue to the Prince Con- 
sort. 



209 

On the 5th of February, 1867, the Queen was again 
able to open Parliament in person, the Speech from the 
Throne being, as on the former occasion, read by the 
Lord Chancellor. The aspect of affairs generally was 
gloomy: the cattle plague, the outbreak of the Fenian 
insurrection in Ireland, and the disturbances occasioned 
by the Reform agitation gave no promise of a prosperous 
year. The meetings held on the latter question, for- 
tunately, passed over without riot, though considerable 
apprehension was felt. 

The first stone of the Albert Hall at Kensington, ad- 
joining the gardens of the Horticultural Society, was 
laid by the Queen on the 20th of May. The building 
was finished in 1871, when the Queen performed the 
opening ceremony. 

Among the events of the year 1867 none is more 
memorable than the visit which the Sultan Abdul Azziz 
paid to England in July. It was the first time that any 
"Commander of the Faithful" had set foot on British 
ground. His Majesty was lodged at Buckingham Pal- 
ace, and on the day following his arrival paid a visit to 
the Queen at Windsor before her departure for Osborne. 
On the 17th of July what had been intended to be the 
most interesting of all the spectacles offered to the Sul- 
tan — a naval review at Spithead — was marred by stormy 
weather. Forty-nine vessels mounting 1,099 guns were 
anchored in two columns, through which the Royal 
yachts passed with the Imperial and Royal visitors. On 
the deck of the Victoria and Albert the Queen invested 
the Sultan with the Order of the Garter. Having again 
visited the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley, in which 
her interest was unabated, the Queen on the 20th of 
August left O'sborne for Balmoral, stopping at the 



210 

Border to pay a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Rox- 
burgh at Floors Castle. During the stay here Melrose 
Abbey and Abbotsford were visited, where the Queen 
wrote her name in Sir Walter Scott's journal, "which," 
as she says in "More Leave's from the Journal," "I felt 
it to be a presumption in me to do." During the stay 
at Balmoral an excursion was made to Glenfiddich, a 
graphic description of which is given in the same "Jour- 
nal." On the 15th of October, the day of the Queen's 
engagement, the statue erected in memory of the Prince 
was unveiled at Balmoral. 

In March of the following year the Queen was much 
alarmed by the news from New South Wales that an 
attempt to assassinate the Duke of Edinburgh had been 
made at Port Jackson. Succeeding telegrams fortunately 
confirmed the news that the Duke's condition was fa- 
vorable and that no danger was anticipated. This das- 
tardly attack caused universal horror and indignation 
throughout Australia. Opening the new buildings of 
St. Thomas's Hospital on the banks of the Thames op- 
posite to the Houses of Parliament, on the 13th of May, 
Her Majesty feelingly acknowledged the sympathy 
shown to her by the nation in her distress. In June, 1868, 
27,000 Volunteers were reviewed in the Great Park at 
Windsor; and on the 5th of August Her Majesty, trav- 
elling as the Countess of Kent, left Osborne for Cher- 
bourg, passing through Paris to Lucerne, where she re- 
mained with Prince Leopold and the Princesses Louise 
and Beatrice for a month. Returning through Paris, the 
happy memories of earlier days were recalled by a short 
visit to St. Cloud. Windsor was reached on the nth of 
September, and three days afterwards the Court left for 
Balmoral. During this visit the Glassalt Shiel, so well 



211 

known as a favorite resort of the Queen, was occupied 
for the first time. 

It was about this time widely rumoured that the 
Queen intended to take her former place in social life. 
In order to contradict this unfounded report a special 
notice was published in The Times: "An erroneous im- 
pression seems generally to prevail, and has lately found 
frequent expression in the newspapers, that the Queen 
is about to resume the place in society which she occupied 
before her great affliction; that is, that she is about to 
hold levees and drawing-rooms in person, and to appear 
as before at Court balls, concerts, etc. This idea cannot 
be too explicitly contradicted. 

"The Queen appreciates the desire of her subjects to 
see her, and whatever she can do to gratify them in this 
loyal and affectionate wish she will do. Whenever any 
real object is to be obtained by her appearing on public 
occasions, any national interest to be promoted, or any- 
thing to be encouraged which is for the good of the 
people, Her Majesty will not shrink, as she has not 
shrunk, from any personal sacrifice or exertion, however 
painful. 

"But there are other and higher duties than those 
of mere representation which are now thrown upon the 
Queen alone and unassisted — duties which she cannot 
neglect without injury to the public service — which 
weigh unceasingly upon her, overwhelming her with 
work and anxiety. The Queen has laboured conscien- 
tiously to discharge these duties till her health and 
strength, already shaken by the bitter and abiding deso- 
lation which has taken the place of her former happiness, 
have been impaired. 

"To call upon her to undergo, in addition, the fa- 



212 

tigue of those mere State ceremonies, which can be 
equally well performed by other members of her family, 
is to ask her to run the risk of entirely disabling herself 
for the discharge of those other duties, which cannot be 
neglected without serious injury to the public interests. 
The Queen will, however, do what she can — in the man- 
ner least trying to her health, strength and spirits — to 
meet the loyal wishes of her subjects; to afford that sup- 
port and countenance to society, and to give that en- 
couragement to trade, which is desired of her. More the 
Queen cannot do; and more the kindness and good feel- 
ing of her people will surely not exact of her." 

Her Majesty has more than redeemed this promise, 
though, as years have passed, the mass of business which 
she alone can transact has almost daily increased in vol- 
ume. This necessary work could only be mastered by 
the strictest economy of time. Wherever the Queen is 
residing-, whether at home or abroad, the same method 
and regularity are maintained. Nor has she failed to 
answer those special demands which have been made by 
the ceremonies attached to the commencement or com- 
pletion of works of public importance. Holborn Via- 
duct, the buildings of the London University, the new 
wing of the London Hospital, the new Law Courts, the 
People's Palace at Mile End, the Imperial Institute, were 
opened by Her Majesty in person. In her presence Ep- 
ping Forest was dedicated to the use of the public for 
all time. By her hand was laid the foundation stone of 
the new Medical Hall of the Royal College of Physicians 
and Surgeons on the Thames Embankment. By open- 
ing the Colonial and Indian Exhibition at South Ken- 
sington the Queen showed how great was her interest 
in the welfare of these branches of her Empire, and her 
desire that they should be better known to her subjects 



213 



at home. In the provinces the Queen has also en- 
deavoured to promote the same spirit of public activity. 
At Birmingham she laid the foundation stone of the new 
Law Courts, and at Derby of the Infirmary; at Man- 
chester she opened the Ship Canal; at Glasgow and at 
Sheffield the new municipal buildings; at Liverpool the 
International Exhibition ; at Southampton the deep 
docks. 

These instances illustrate the many-sided sym- 
pathies of the Queen in national life as a whole. Her 
Majesty has also, at all times, proved her warm apprecia- 
tion of the loyalty of her subjects who have entered into 
her own service. Her interest in the navy has been great 
and exhibited wherever a suitable opportunity has pre- 
sented itself. Thus, in 1878, and again in 1887 on the oc- 
casion of the Jubilee, when 134 ships of various de- 
scriptions were collected at Spithead, she reviewed the 
fleet, and in 1891 she visited Portsmouth to christen and 
launch the Royal Sovereign, the largest ironclad afloat, 
and the Royal Arthur, a new and powerful cruiser. For 
reviews of troops opportunities have more frequently 
occurred. Aldershot and its garrison has been many 
times honoured by the presence of the Queen; at Wind- 
sor also the Queen has reviewed her regular troops, tak- 
ing advantage of the visit of the Shah of Persia to as- 
semble there some 10,000 men, and in July, 1881, Her 
Majesty reviewed the English volunteers, then cele- 
brating their majority, when upwards of 50,000 marched 
past. This review was followed by another at Edin- 
burgh in the following month, when 40,000 volunteers of 
the North paraded before the Queen. The 79th Cameron 
Highlanders and the 2d Battalion of the Berkshire Regi- 
ment received new colours from the Queen's hands in 



214 

the Isle of Wight, and at Windsor the 4th Regiment was 
similarly honoured. 

In 1876 the Queen was able, for the second time 
since her widowhood, to open Parliament in person on 
the 8th of February. In the Speech from the Throne 
occurred the following passage: "At the time that the 
direct government of my Indian Empire was transferred 
to the Crown, no formal addition was made to the style 
and title of the Sovereign. I have deemed the present a 
fitting opportunity for supplying this omission, and a Bill 
upon the subject will be presented to you." This Bill 
was introduced in the House of Commons by Mr. Dis- 
raeli on the 17th of February. The title selected by the 
Queen was "Empress of India." The Bill was resisted 
with some show of vigour by the Opposition, but was 
eventually passed, and received the Royal assent. The 
proclamation of the new title was made on the 1st of 
May by the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, and also 
at Edinburgh. The formal proclamation of the Empire 
in India took place on New Year's Day, 1877, at Cal- 
cutta, Bombay, Madras and Delhi. At the last-named 
place the Viceroy, Lord Lytton, presided at a magnifi- 
cent Durbar, when sixty-three ruling chiefs were as- 
sembled. 

At the opening of Parliament by Her Majesty in 
person on the 8th of February, the Queen's Speech con- 
tained this paragraph: "My assumption of the Im- 
perial title at Delhi was welcomed by the chiefs and 
people of India with professions of affection and loy- 
alty most grateful to my feelings." In commemoration 
of the event, a large gold medal was struck, copies of 
which were presented to the native chiefs and the prin- 
cipal officials of the new Empire. An illustration of this 



215 

medal is on page 159. At the same time, the Queen 
founded the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Em- 
pire, in addition to the Most Exalted Order of the Star 
of India, which had been instituted by Her Majesty in 
1865 after the termination of the Indian Mutiny, and to 
the Order of the Crown of India for ladies, and espe- 
cially for ladies connected with the Indian Empire. The 
insignia of the two first of these orders are also repre- 
sented in the illustration on page 159. 

Among other Orders instituted or enlarged during 
the Queen's reign, mention should be made of the Order 
of ''Victoria and Albert," originally worn as a badge by 
Royal Ladies and Princesses of the Queen's family, but 
created an Order in 1862. Another Order is the Most 
Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George. 
Originally instituted in 181 8 in connection with the 
Ionian Islands, it was enlarged in 1868, and again in 
1877, for subjects of the Crown who< had held high and 
confidential offices within Her Majesty's Colonial pos- 
sessions, or for service in relation to the Foreign affairs 
of the Empire. In 1886 the Queen created a new naval 
and military order for the reward of individual instances 
of meritorious or distinguished service in the field or 
before the enemy; this is called "the Distinguished Serv- 
ice Order." Mention has been made earlier of the insti- 
tution in 1856 of the Victoria Cross for rewarding indi- 
vidual acts of heroism in war. Ten years afterward the 
Queen instituted the Albert Medal for the purpose of re- 
warding by royal favour the many daring and heroic ac- 
tions performed by mariners and others in saving life at 
sea. By another warrant a year later, in 1877, this 
decoration was extended to cases of gallantry in pre- 
venting loss of life from accidents in mines, at fires, 



216 

and other perils on shore. These are illustrated on page 
73. On the 21st of April, 1896, the Queen instituted 
the Royal Victorean Order (illustrated on page 195), 
to be conferred as a mark of high distinction upon those 
who have rendered personal service to Her Majesty. 

In the long course of years, uniformly occupied with 
the laborious discharge of the complicated business of 
the State, and marked by special efforts to encourage 
national movements, or to promote the efficiency of the 
public services, the Queen has witnessed many changes, 
some happy, some painful, in the expanding circle of 
her domestic life. 

In the autumn of the year 1870 the Queen in Coun- 
cil gave her consent to the marriage of Princess Louise 
with the Marquis of Lome, eldest son of the Duke of 
Argyll. The engagement had taken place at Balmoral 
in October, and the marriage ceremony was solemnized, 
on the 2 1st of March, 1871, in St. George's Chapel, 
Windsor, the Queen herself giving away the bride. 

The next marriage of one of Her Majesty's children 
was that of the Duke of Edinburgh, who, on the 23d 
of January, 1874, was united at St. Petersburg to the 
Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, only daughter of 
the Emperor Alexander II. This was the first alli- 
ance ever formed between the royal houses of England 
and Russia, and the Princess was received, on her ar- 
rival in England, with the warmest welcome. It was 
the first time also that, since the Act of Settlement, a 
British Prince had taken a wife not belonging to the 
Protestant communion ; but in that Act the Greek Church 
was not mentioned, so no objection was made to the 
daughter of the Emperor of Russia retaining her al- 



217 

legiance to her own faith when she became Duchess of 
Edinburgh. 

Five years later, the Queen saw the marriage of an- 
other son. On the 13th of March, 1879, the Duke of 
Connaught was married, at St. George's Chapel, Wind- 
sor, to the Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, daugh- 
ter of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, well known 
as "the Red Prince." In this same year, on the 12th of 
May, the Queen's first great-grandchild, a daughter of 
the Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen, daughter of 
the Princess Royal, was born. 

On the 27th of April, 1882, Prince Leopold, Duke of 
Albany, the youngest, and only unmarried, son of the 
Queen, was married at St. George's Chapel to the Prin- 
cess Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Only a few days be- 
fore the ceremony, a man named Maclean had been tried 
and convicted for the cowardly outrage of firing at Her 
Majesty, as she with Princess Beatrice was leaving Wind- 
sor Station. 

One only of the Queen's children was now unmar- 
ried, the youngest Princess. Since her father's death, 
Princess Beatrice, who was then four years old, had been 
the daily companion of her mother, and the knowledge 
of the dutiful manner in which she had watched by Her 
Majesty, and done her utmost to cheer and lighten the 
solitude of her life, had given her a strong hold on the 
affection of the nation. It was therefore with no little 
interest that, in 1885, at the beginning of the year, the 
announcement was received that the Queen had approved 
of her marriage with Prince Henry of Battenberg. The 
Prince was no stranger to the family, as his eldest 
brother, Prince Louis, had already married the Princess 
Victoria of Hesse, eldest daughter of the Grand Duke of 



218 

Hesse and Princess Alice, and was a distinguished of- 
ficer in Her Majesty's Navy. The marriage was per- 
formed at Whippingham Church, on the 23d of July, 
1885; but, unlike the marriages of -the Queen's other 
children, it entailed no separation from her daughter, 
who with her husband continued to live with Her Maj- 
esty wherever she resided. 

Although in these additions to her family the Queen 
had found much happiness and consolation, yet sorrow 
and suffering have rarely been long absent, and suc- 
cessive losses have left gaps in the circle never to be 
filled, and memories never to be forgotten. The Queen 
passed through a time of terrible trial and anxious sus- 
pense when the Prince of Wales, on the 23rd of Novem- 
ber, 1 87 1, was attacked by typhoid fever. So grave were 
the symptoms that the Queen on the 29th, having just re- 
turned from Balmoral, determined to go to Sandring- 
ham, where the Prince was lying. The Princess Louis 
of Hesse was there also on a visit to her brother, and it 
was fresh in the memories of a sympathizing nation how 
assiduous her attentions had been, just ten years before, 
when her lamented father lay dying from a fever of the 
same nature. The intensity of public feeling was al- 
layed for a time by reports of the normal course of the 
disease; but it was deepened on the 8th of December, 
when a serious • relapse occurred, and the Queen, who 
had returned to Windsor on the 1st, hurried back to 
Sandringham to watch over her son. On the 10th, by 
Her Majesty's desire, forms of prayer for the recovery 
of the Heir to the Throne were issued by the Archbishop 
of Canterbury, and religious communities of all kinds 
throughout the Empire joined in the universal interces- 
sion. It was not till December the 14th, the anniversary 



219 

of the Prince Consort's death, that the illness took a fav- 
orable turn, and from that day the Prince slowly but 
surely recovered. The loyalty and sympathy shown to 
the Queen by her subjects in this time of trial were ac- 
knowledged in the following letter: — 

"Windsor Castle, December 26th, 1871. 

"The Queen is very anxious to express her deep 
sense of the touching sympathy of the whole nation on 
the occasion of the alarming illness of her dear son the 
Prince of Wales. The universal feeling shown by her 
people during those painful, terrible days, and the sym- 
pathy evinced by them with herself and her beloved 
daughter the Princess of Wales, as well as the general 
joy in the improvement of the Prince of Wales's state, 
have made a deep and lasting impression upon her heart 
which can never be effaced. It was, indeed, nothing new 
to her, for the Queen had met with the same sympathy 
when, just ten years ago, a similar illness removed from 
her side the best, wisest, and kindest of husbands. 

'The Queen wishes to express, at the same time, on 
behalf of the Princess of Wales, her feelings of heartfelt 
gratitude, for she has been as deeply touched 
as the Queen by the great and universal manifestations 
of layalty and sympathy. 

"The Queen cannot conclude without expressing her 
hope that her faithful subjects will continue their prayers 
to God for the complete recovery of her dear son to 
health and strength." 

This letter addressed to her subjects aroused among 
the people a deep feeling. Each one read it as a personal 
acknowledgment, and the warmth of affection to their 



220 

Sovereign and family was manifested by the spontaneity 
and sincerity of the national thanksgiving for the restora- 
tion to health of the Prince of Wales, which was held on 
the 27th of February, 1872. This service had at first 
been arranged more as a private act of devotion on the 
part of the Queen and her household; but it assumed, 
day by day, the proportions of a national festival, until 
it culminated in the grandest outburst of unanimous 
popular emotion which had been witnessed since the 
times of the Tudors. 

Two days after the ceremony at St. Paul's, the fol- 
lowing letter was published in the London Gazette : — 

"Buckingham Palace, February 29th, 1872. 

"The Queen is anxious, as on a previous occasion, 
to express publicly her own personal very deep sense of 
the reception she and her dear children met with on 
Tuesday, February 27th, from millions of her subjects on 
her way to and from St. Paul's. 

"Words are too weak for the Queen to say how very 
deeply touched and gratified she has been, by the im- 
mense enthusiasm and affection exhibited towards her 
dear son and herself, from the highest down to the low- 
est, on the long progress through the capital, and she 
would earnestly wish to convey her warmest, and most 
heartfelt thanks, to the whole nation for this great dem- 
onstration of loyalty. 

"The Queen, as well as her son and her dear 
daughter-in-law, felt that the whole nation joined them in 
thanking God for sparing the beloved Prince of Wales's 
life. 

"The remembrance of this day, and of the remarka- 
ble order maintained throughout, will for ever be affec- 
tionately remembered by the Queen and her family." 



221 

Another period of deep suspense and anxiety, fortu- 
nately coming, like the illness of the Prince of Waltes, to a 
joyful termination, was the Egyptian war of 1882, which 
brought home to Her Majesty the anxiety and suspense 
inseparable from those who have near and dear relatives 
in the field. The Queen has always watched the move- 
ments of her brave sailors and soldiers with a tender and 
anxious care; -but it was not till September, 1882, that 
one of her own sons was under fire in a distant land. An 
English army had been despatched to Egypt to assist the 
Khedive in the subjugation of his rebellious army under 
Arabi Pasha. The troops were commanded by Sir Gar- 
net, now Lord, Wolseley, and under him the Duke of 
Connaught was in command of the brigade of Guards. 
The Egyptian army, in a strongly entrenched position at 
Tel-el-Kebir, awaited the final attack of the British 
troops, which was delivered on the 12th of September. 
In "More Leaves from the Journal" the Queen writes: — 

"Monday, September 11, 1882. 
"Received a telegram in cypher from Sir John Mc- 
Neill (who was on the Duke's personal staff), marked 
very secret, saying that it was 'determined to attack the 
enemy with a very large force on Wednesday.' How 
anxious this made us, God only knows; and yet this 
long delay had already intensified our suspense. No one 
to know, though all expected something at the time." 

"Tuesday, September 12. 
" . . . I prayed earnestly for my darling child, and 
longed for the morrow to arrive. Read Korner's beauti- 
ful Gebet von der Schlacht, 'Vater, ich rufe Dich' (Prayer 
before the battle, 'Father, I call on Thee'). My beloved 



222 

husband used to sing it often. My thoughts were entire- 
ly fixed on Egypt and the coming battle. My nerves 
were strained to such a pitch by the intensity of my anx- 
iety and suspense that they seemed to feel as though 
they were all alive." 

"Wednesday, September 13th. 

".. . . Took my short walk and breakfasted in 
the cottage. Had a telegram that the army marched out 
last night. What an anxious moment ! . . . Another 
telegram, also from Reuter, saying that fighting was 
going on, and that the enemy had been routed with heavy 
losses at Tel-el-Kebir. Much agitated. 

"On coming in got a telegram from Sir John Mc- 
Neill, saying, 'A great victory; Duke safe and well. 7 Sent 
all to Louischen (the Duchess of Connaught). The ex- 
citement was very great. Felt unbounded joy and grat- 
itude for God's great goodness and mercy. ... A 
little later, just before two, came the following most wel- 
come and gratifying telegram from Sir Garnet Wolseley: 

" Tsmalia, September 13th, 1882. 

" 'Attacked Arabi's position at five this morning. 
His strongly entrenched position was most bravely and 
gallantly stormed by the Guards and line, while cavalry 
and horse artillery worked round their left flank. At 
seven o'clock I was in complete possession of his whole 
camp. . . . Enemy completely routed, and his 
losses have been very heavy; also regret to say we have 
suffered severely. Duke of Connaught is well and be- 
haved admirably, heading his brigade to the attack.' 

"Brown brought the telegrams, and followed me to 
Beatrice's room, where Louischen was, and I showed it 



223 

to her. I was myself quite upset, and embraced her 
warmly, saying what joy and pride and cause of thank- 
fulness it was to know our darling was safe, and so much 
praised! I feel quite beside myself for joy and gratitude, 
though grieved to think of our losses, which, however, 
have not proved to be so serious as first reported. We 
were both much overcome. ... A telegram from Sir 
Garnet Wolseley to Mr. Childers, with fuller accounts, 
arrived. The loss, thank God! is not so heavy as we 
feared at first. A bonfire was to be lit by my desire at the 
top of Craig Gowan at nine, just where there had been 
one in 1856, after the fall of Sevastopol, when dearest 
Albert went up to it at night with Bertie and Afiie. That 
was on September 13th, very nearly the same time, twen- 
ty-six years ago." That very day, a few hours after- 
wards, the Duke of Albany arrived with his bride. 

On the 23d of September, 1872, the Queen received 
the distressing news of the death, at Baden-Baden, of 
her sister, the Dowager Princess of Hohenlohe-Langen- 
burg. The declining health of the Princess had been for 
some time a source of anxiety, but so rapid a termination 
of the illness was unexpected, and was a painful shock 
to Her Majesty, who lost a most affectionate sister to 
whom she had always been warmly attached. 

Six years later, came a yet deeper sorrow, when 
the first of the Queen's own children was to follow the 
husband and father into the silent land — Princess Alice, 
Grand Duchess of Hesse, who had been taken ill on the 
7th of December, 1878, with diphtheria, caught in at- 
tendance upon her husband and upon her children, all 
of whom, except Princess Elizabeth, now the Grand 
Duchess* Elizabeth of Russia, had suffered, and one of 
whom had died from the illness. Her own sufferings 



224 

were borne with wonderful patience, and at first it was 
believed that her life might be spared; but it was not to 
be, and on the fatal 14th of December she died, murmur- 
ing to herself, "From Friday to Saturday, four weeks — 
May — dear Papa — !" It was exactly four weeks to the 
day since her child, Princess Marie, known to her family 
by the pet name of May, had died, and seventeen years 
since the death of the Prince Consort. In her grief the 
Queen had the warm sympathy of the whole nation, 
which well remembered the devotion of the Princess to 
her father in the illness from which he died, and to her 
brother during that from which he mercifully recovered. 
In the land of her adoption her loss was equally deplored, 
for there she had won the love of the people by her con- 
stant care for their interests, more especially during the 
trying times of the Franco-German War, when the sick 
and wounded learned to bless her name as their com- 
forter and friend. Her remains were laid to rest in the 
mausoleum at Rosenhohe, where a tomb, bearing a re- 
cumbent effigy by Boehm, representing the Princess 
holding in her arms the Princess Marie, is now placed. 
This effigy was copied from that which adorns the mau- 
soleum of the Prince Consort at Frogmore. A memorial 
of another kind is to be found in the "Biographical 
Sketch and Letters of the Princess," so ably edited by 
her sister, Princess Helena, Princess Christian of Schles- 
wig-Holstein, in which it can be seen that the love of 
husband and children, only deepened the affection which 
she had for her loved and widowed mother. 

The following letter from the Queen appeared in the 
London Gazette: — 

"Osborne, December 26th, 1878. 

"The Queen is anxious to take the earliest oppor- 



225 

tunity of expressing publicly her heartfelt thanks for the 
universal and most touching sympathy shown to her by 
all classes of her loyal and faithful subjects on the pres- 
ent occasion, when it has pleased God to call from this 
world her dearly-beloved daughter, the Princess Alice, 
Grand Duchess of Hesse. Overwhelmed with grief at 
the loss of a dear child, who was a bright example of 
loving- tenderness, courageous devotion, and self-sacrifice 
to duty, it is most soothing to the Queen's feelings to see 
how entirely her grief is shared by her people. The 
Queen's deeply afflicted son-in-law, the Grand Duke of 
Hesse, is also anxious to make known his sincere grat- 
itude for the kind feelings expressed towards himself and 
his dear children in their terrible bereavement, and his 
gratification at the appreciation shown by the people of 
England Of the noble and endearing qualities of her 
whom all now mourn. Seventeen years ago, at this very 
time, when a similar bereavement crushed the Queen's 
happiness, and this beloved and lamented daughter was 
her great comfort and support, the nation evinced the 
same touching sympathy, as well as when, in December, 
1 871, the Prince of Wales was at the point of death. Such 
an exhibition of true and tender feeling will ever remain 
engraven on the Queen's heart, and is more to be valued 
at this moment of great distress in the country, which 
no one more deeply deplores than the Queen herself." 

At the funeral of the Princess Alice, two of her 
brothers were present — the eldest, whose recovery she 
had herself witnessed, and the youngest, who was fated 
to follow her. Prince Leopold had, from his early years, 
been always of delicate constitution — as the Princess 
Alice had said, he had been three times given back to his 
family from the brink of the grave. Living a retired 



226 

and studious life, he gave promise of succeeding to his 
father's position as head of all progressive movements 
in literature and art. Trained while young at home, in 
1872 he went, at his own particular wish, to Oxford, and 
matriculated at Christ Church. Here he mixed freely 
with those of his own age, but he equally cultivated the 
society of those older in years who were distinguished in 
literature and science. He was sworn of the Privy Coun- 
cil in 1874, and later received a commission in the army 
and the command of the Seaforth Highlanders. In the 
debates of the House of Lords, which he entered as Duke 
of Albany in 1881, he took little part, though his inter- 
est in the politics of the day was keen and intelligent, 
but he made a great reputation as a public speaker, par- 
ticularly in London, and at Manchester, where he pleaded 
the cause of music and education. His health, as he grew 
older, so much improved, that it was hoped he might be 
able to throw off his constitutional weakness; but after 
two years of married happiness he died suddenly at Can- 
nes, on the 28th of March, 1884, leaving his widow with 
one daughter. A son was born to* him, after his death, 
on the 19th of July. His remains were brought over to 
England, and he now lies in the Albert Chapel at Wind- 
sor, within the sound of the organ he loved so well when 
alive. A most touching tribute to his memory is the 
poem call "The Untravelled Traveller," by Dean Stanley, 
originally written in 1875, an d reprinted at the time of 
his death. 

On the eve of her departure for the Continent to be 
present at the marriage of her grand-daughter, Princess 
Victoria of Hesse, with Prince Louis of Battenberg, the 
Queen, through the Home Secretary, addressed the fol- 
lowing letter to her people:— 



227 



"Windsor Castle, April 14th, 1884. 

"I have on several previous occasions given per- 
sonal expression to my deep sense of the loving sym- 
pathy and loyalty of my subjects in all parts of my Em- 
pire. I wish, therefore, in my present grievous bereave- 
ment, to thank them most warmly for the very gratify- 
ing manner in which they have shown not only their 
sympathy with me and my dear so-deeply-afflicted daugh- 
ter-in-law, and my other children, but also their high 
appreciation of my beloved son's great qualities of head 
and heart, and of the loss he is to the country and to me. 
The affectionate sympathy of my loyal people, which has 
never failed me in weal or woe, is very soothing to my 
heart. 

"Though much shaken and sorely afflicted by the 
many sorrows and trials which have fallen upon me dur- 
ing these past years, I will not lose courage, and, with 
the help of Him who has never forsaken me, will strive 
to labor on for the sake of my children, and for the good 
of the country I love so well, as long as I can. 

"My dear daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Albany, 
who bears her terrible misfortune with the most admir- 
able, touching, and unmurmuring resignation to the will 
of God, is also deeply gratified by the universal sympa- 
thy and kind feeling evinced towards her. 

"I would wish, in conclusion, to express my grati- 
tude to all other countries for their sympathy— above all, 
to the neighboring one where my beloved son breathed 
his last, and for the great respect and kindness shown 
on that mournful occasion. 

"VICTORIA R. AND I." 



228 

A recumbent effigy of Sir Edgar Boehm, R. A., of 
the lamented Prince, in his uniform as Colonel of the 
Seaforth Highlanders, has been placed on his tomb. 

It has been one consequence of the early age at 
which the Queen came to the throne that the friends 
and associates of her youth have passed away, and lat- 
terly in greater numbers. The catalogue of these is long 
and recalls many sad memories. Among the ladies of 
the Court who have been closely connected with Her 
Majesty, may be mentioned the Duchess of Sutherland, 
Lady Jocelyn, Lady Caroline Barrington, Lady Augusta 
Stanley, Lady Gainsborough, Lady Ely, the Duchess of 
Roxburghe, and the Duchess of Athole; among other 
members of the Royal household who have served their 
Royal Mistress with single-minded devotion, the names 
of General the Hon. Charles Grey, the Hon. Sir Charles 
Phipps, Sir Thomas Biddulph, Sir John Cowell, and Sir 
Henry Ponsonby rise to the memory immediately. 

The thoughtful kindness which the Queen has al- 
ways shown to her servants, and the implicit confidence 
which she has reposed in their loyalty, have won from 
those in her employment that devoted personal service 
which has so long distinguished her domestic establish- 
ment. Among those who, by their tried fidelity, have 
thus earned and enjoyed her trust, Mrs. Macdonald and 
John Brown may be taken as types, both of whom 
passed upwards of thirty years in close and daily attend- 
ance upon Her Majesty. 

The 20th of June, 1887, was the fiftieth anniversary 
of the Queen's accession. Three times only in the his- 
tory of the country had the reign of an English Sovereign 
attained this number of years, and Her Majesty's Jubilee 
was celebrated throughout the Empire with universal 



229 



rejoicing. No preceding half-century had ever witnessed 
such striking progress in the prosperity and power of a 
nation, and it was deemed fitting that this anniversary 
should be celebrated with all the loyalty and enthusiasm 
which a united people could evince towards a Sovereign 
who, through weal and woe, had presided with such wis- 
dom and prudence over the councils of the State, had set 
so beneficent an example of domestic virtue, and had so 
closely identified herself with the joys and sorrows of all 
her subjects. 

On the 2 1 st of June the Queen, accompanied by her 
children and grandchildren, and attended by a number 
of foreign Sovereigns or their representatives, went in 
State from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, 
where a special service was held. Her Majesty's carriage, 
escorted by a brilliant body of officers of Indian Cavalry, 
was preceded by a cortege of Princes all nearly related 
to the Queen, conspicuous among whom towered the 
Crown Prince of Germany in the white uniform of the 
Prussian Gardes du Corps. A picture of this cavalcade, 
as it passed to Westminster through Trafalgar Square, 
has been painted for the Queen by Mr. Charlton, and is 
here reproduced. 

Since the Coronation the Abbey had never seen so 
impressive a spectacle. The Queen sate in the 
chair of Edward the Confessor, in which, fifty 
years before, she had been crowned; the Abbey 
was filled with a brilliant throng, and the 
service of thanksgiving was striking and magnificent. 
The "Te Deum" was sung by three hundred voices 
to the music of the Prince Consort, and a special Jubilee 
anthem, composed by Dr. (now Sir John Frederick) 
Bridge, was also performed. At the conclusion of the 



230 

service, which had been conducted by the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, Dr. Benson, the Queen kissed each of her 
children and retired, passing to Buckingham Palace 
amid the renewed greetings of her subjects. 

To the Home Secretary after this event the Queen 
addressed the following letter: 

"Windsor Castle, June 24. 

"I am anxious to express to my people my warm 
thanks for the kind, and more than kind, reception I 
met with on going to, and returning from, Westmin- 
ster Abbey, with all my children and grandchildren. 

"The enthusiastic reception I met with then, as 
well as on these eventful days in London as well as in 
Windsor, on the occasion of my Jubilee, has touched 
me most deeply. It has shown that the labors and anx- 
iety of fifty long years, twenty-two of which I spent in 
unclouded happiness shared and cheered by my beloved 
husband, while an equal number were full of sorrows and 
trials, borne without his sheltering arm and wise help, 
have been appreciated by my people. 

"This feeling, and the sense of duty towards my 
dear country and subjects, who are so inseparably bound 
up with my life, will encourage me in my task, often a 
very difficult and arduous one, during the remainder of 
my life. 

"The wonderful order preserved on this occasion, 
and the good behavior of the enormous multitudes as- 
sembled, merits my highest admiration. 

"That God may protect and abundantly bless my 
country is my fervent prayer. 

"VICTORIA, R. AND I." 



231 

On the 2d of July, 1887, the Queen, at Bucking- 
ham Palace, saw a march-past of over 23,000 Volun- 
teers, and two days later Her Majesty laid the founda- 
tion stone of the Imperial Institute. In her reply to 
the address from the organizing committee, read by the 
Prince of Wales, the Queen said: "I concur with you 
in thinking that the counsel and exertions of my be- 
loved husband initiated a movement which gave in- 
creased vigor to commercial activity, and produced 
marked and lasting improvements in industrial efforts. 
One indirect result of that movement has been to bring- 
more before the minds of men the vast and varied re- 
sources of the Empire over which Providence has willed 
that I should reign during fifty prosperous years. I be 
lieve and hope that the Imperial Institute will play a 
useful part in combining those resources for the com- 
mon advantage of all my subjects, and conducing to- 
ward the welding of the Colonies, India, and the Mother 
Country into one harmonious and united community." 

On the 9th of July the Queen reviewed her troops, 
58,000 men with 102 guns, at Aldershot. Before the 
march-past the Queen received from the Duke of Cam- 
bridge, Commander-in-Chief, the congratulations of the 
army on her Jubilee, to which Her Majesty returned a 
gracious reply. 

On the 23d of the same month, a great naval re- 
view at Spithead concluded the Jubilee celebrations. 
The fleet consisted of one hundred and thirty-five ves- 
sels, mounting about five hundred guns, with a comple- 
ment of officers and men of twenty thousand. After 
passing through the line, Her Majesty summoned the 
commanders of the ships on board the royal yacht, and 
expressed to each the satisfaction the display had given 



232 

her, and her appreciation of the hearty reception ac- 
corded to her by the crews. 

On the 15th of the same month, the Queen, before 
leaving Windsor, laid at Smith's Lawn, in the Great 
Park, the foundation stone of the equestrian statue of 
the Prince Consort presented by the women and girls 
of the United Kingdom; the surplus of this Jubilee of- 
fering was, by Her Majesty's decision, devoted to the 
benefit of nurses and nursing establishments — a much- 
needed movement of practical utility, which had for 
some time engaged Her Majesty's serious attention, 
and had been fostered by her daughter Princess Chris- 
tian, who has spared neither time nor trouble in pro- 
moting its success. 

Among those nearest and dearest to the Queen, 
who took part in the Jubilee of 1887, four have since 
passed away — the Emperor Frederic, the Grand Duke 
of Hesse, the Duke of Clarence, and Prince Henry of 
Battenberg. 

The Crown Prince of Germany, who had for some 
time suffered from an affection of the larynx, passed 
the winter of 1887-88 at San Remo, and only left for 
Berlin on the 10th of March, 1888, when he received 
the news of his accession to the throne of Prussia and 
of the German Empire, by the death of his father the 
day before. The malady from which he suffered, not- 
withstanding the strenuous efforts of his medical at- 
tendants, continued to increase in an alarming manner, 
though his own vitality and courage at times gave 
hope of amendment. He battled bravely against fate, 
but on the 15th of June the end came, and after a short 
reign of ninety-nine days, the Emperor Frederic, whose 



233 

noble character was fitly shrined in a commanding fig- 
ure and a stately presence, was lost to his sorrowing 
family and to his country, and the Queen's eldest daugh- 
ter was left a widow. The Queen had paid a visit to 
her son-in-law at Charlottenburg on the 24th of April, 
where she had the melancholy satisfaction of seeing him 
during one of the temporary rallies. 

Another Prince, who> had taken part in the proces- 
sion of 1887, was the Grand Duke of Hesse. Though 
less known in England than the Crown Prince of Prus- 
sia, the Grand Duke had been closely associated with 
the Queen in many happy hours of her life, and his 
death, which severed another link with the golden past, 
was deeply felt by Her Majesty, who was warmly at- 
tached to the husband of Princess Alice. 

A loss which appealed more directly to the British 
people was that of the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, 
the eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and 
ultimate heir to the throne. Attacked by the prevail- 
ing epidemic of influenza in January, 1892, he was un- 
able to struggle against the complication of pneumonia, 
which set in at an early stage of his illness. On January 
14th he died — a few days after his birthday and within a 
few weeks of his marriage. Youth, brilliant position, 
and his approaching marriage, lent peculiar pathos to 
the death of the Duke, whose loss was deeply felt by his 
. parents and his grandmother. He was buried in the 
Albert Chapel at Windsor on January 20, 1892. On the 
same day the Queen wrote from Osborne to the Home 
Secretary as follows: 

"I must once again give expression to my deep 
sense of the loyalty and affectionate sympathy evinced 



234 

by my subjects in every part of my Empire on an oc- 
casion more sad and tragical than any but one wfiich 
has befallen me and mine, as well as the nation. The 
overwhelming misfortune of my dearly-loved grandson 
having thus been suddenly cut off in the flower of his 
age, full of promise for the future, amiable and gentle, 
and endearing himself to all, renders it hard for his 
sorely stricken parents, his dear young bride, and his 
fond grandmother to bow in submission to the inscru- 
table decrees of Providence. 

"The sympathy of millions, which has been so 
touchingly and vividly expressed, is deeply gratifying at 
such a time, and I wish, both in my own name and 
that of my children, to express from my heart my warm 
gratitude to all. I } \% 

"These testimonies of sympathy with us, and ap- 
preciation of my dear grandson, whom I loved as a son, 
and whose devotion to me was as great as that of a son, 
will be a help and consolation to me and mine in our 
affliction. 

"My bereavements during the last thirty years of 
my reign have indeed been heavy. Though the labors, 
anxieties and responsibilities inseparable from my po- 
siton have been great, yet it is my earnest prayer that 
God may give me health and strength to work for the 
good and happiness of my dear country and Empire 
while life lasts. VICTORIA, R. I." 

Another deep shadow was thrown over the Queen 
and her family by the removal of one more of the com- 
pany of Princes in the procession of 1887. Since His 
marriage in 1885, Prince Henry of Battenberg, the hus- 
band of Princess Beatrice, had been seldom away from 



235 



the Court, whether at Windsor, Balmoral or Osborne, 
and had accompanied Her Majesty on her annual visits 
to the Continent in the spring. Adapting- himself thor- 
oughly to English life, ardently attached to the insti- 
tutions and sports of the country, he had by his genial, 
courteous manner and unobtrusive tact won the affec- 
tion of all with whom he was associated, and his bright 
presence is now sorely missed. Sprung from a family 
of soldiers, and brother of Prince Alexander, the hero 
of Slivnitza, it is not to be wondered at that, when a 
chance occurred of distinguishing himself in the field, 
he accepted it with eagerness, and volunteered for the 
expedition to Ashantee, which had just been organized. 
Throughout the march from the coast, Prince Henry 
proved his willingness to share the fatigue and labors of 
his comrades, and his presence was most useful in ne- 
gotiations with native chiefs. ' The expedition had 
reached Kwisa, between Prahsu and Kumassi, the cap- 
ital of King Prempeh, when the Prince was struck down 
by fever. He was promptly conveyed to the coast, and 
rallied after the journey. He embarked on board H. M. 
S. Blonde on the 17th of January in a weak state, and at 
one time seemed to regain strength. On the 19th, how- 
ever, a change for the worst set in, and he passed peace- 
fully away on the evening of January 20th, off the coast 
of Sierre Leone. 

The sudden and tragic close of a life so bright and 
promising shocked the whole nation, and stirred to the 
depths their sympathies for the widow, for the father- 
less children, and for the Queen. To Her Majesty, 
apart from its wholly unexpected character, the blow was 
the more severe, because, as her other children had been 
parted from her by the exigencies of their positions, she 



236 

had learned to rely on her daughter's husband for that 
sympathy, support, and assistance which, as years passed 
on, became more valuable. In response to the uni- 
versal expression of national feeling, Her Majesty wrote 
from Osborne on the 14th of February, 1896: 

"I have, alas! once more to thank my loyal sub- 
jects for their warm sympathy in a fresh grievous afflic- 
tion which has befallen me and my beloved daughter, 
Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg. 

"This new sorrow is overwhelming, and to me is 
a double one, for I lose a dearly-beloved and helpful son, 
whose presence was like a bright sunbeam in my home, 
and my dear daughter loses a noble, devoted husband, 
to whom she was united by the closest affection. 

"To witness the blighted happiness of the daughter 
who has never left me and has comforted and helped 
me, is hard to bear. But the feeling of universal sym- 
pathy so touchingly shown by all classes of my sub- 
jects has deeply moved my child and myself, and has 
helped and soothed us greatly. I wish from my heart 
to thank my people for this, as well as for the appreciation 
manifested of the dear and gallant Prince who laid down 
his life in the service of his adopted country. 

"My beloved child is an example to all in her cour- 
age, resignation and submission to the will of God. 

"VICTORIA, R. I." 

The lamented Prince was, by his own wish, laid to 
rest at Whippingham, in the Isle of Wight, of which 
he had been Captain and Governor — an office which has 
since been conferred upon his widow. By her accept- 
ance of this office Princess Henry showed, and it is but 



237 



one proof among many, her courageous resolve not to 
allow her private sorrow to interfere with the perform- 
ance of public duties. 

On the 3d of May, 1893, the official announcement 
was made of the betrothal of the Duke of York, the 
only surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
to the Princess Victoria Mary, only daughter of the 
Duke and Duchess of Teck. The marriage took place at 
St. James's Palace on the 6th of July, amid universal re- 
joicing, and never since the marriage of the Prince of 
Wales or the Queen's Jubilee procession had London 
been more thronged with loyal and enthusiastic crowds. 
The ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, in the presence of the Queen and all the 
royal family, with whom were the King and Queen of 
Denmark and the Czarevitch, now Emperor, of Rus- 
sia. The bridesmaids were grandchildren and one 
great-grandchild of the Queen. After the rejoicings 
and congratulations from all parts of the Empire, the 
Queen addressed another letter to her people, in which 
she wrote of the universal loyalty shown to her. "It is, 
indeed, nothing new to the Queen, for in weal or woe 
she has ever met with the warmest, kindest sympathy, 
which she feels very deeply. She knows that the people 
of her vast Empire are aware how truly her heart beats 
for them in all their joys and sorrows, and that in the 
existence of this tie between them and herself lies the real 
strength of the Empire." The picture of the marriage 
ceremony, painted by command of the Queen by M. 
Tuxen, is reproduced overleaf. 

The Duke and Duchess of York have now three 
children; the eldest— a son— born on the 23d of June, 



238 

i8g4, has been christened Edward; the second, — also a 
son — named Albert, was born on December 14th, 1895; 
the third, — a daughter — named Victoria Alexandra Alice 
Mary, was born on April 25th, 1897. The name "Alice" 
commemorates the Grand Duchess of Hesse, and "Mary" 
the Duchess of Gloucester, on whose birthday the infant 
Princess was born. The descent of the crown in a direct 
line is thus, it is hoped, happily assured. 

During the whole of her long life, in the midst of 
public business which has daily become more volumin- 
ous and exacting, the Queen has never entirely aban- 
doned the pursits which were the pleasure and relaxation 
of her earliest years. Mention has been made of her 
practice of music and of her instructors, and here it may 
be noted that within the last fifteen years Her Majesty 
has sung with Signor Tosti, as at an earlier period she 
sang with Lablache and Mendelssohn. In all the ex- 
tracts from the Queen's journals which have from time 
to time been made public, it will have been noticed how 
constantly she mentions that she sketched the scenery 
of the places visited by her. The early instruction, given 
by Westall ancl supplemented by the hints occasionally 
given by Sir E. Landseer, was not in landscape draw- 
ing, which was taught by Mr. Lear in 1846 and 1847. 
Since that time the Queen has taken lessons from Mr. 
Leitch, and within the last twelve years also from Mr. 
Green. The Queen has always followed with the clos- 
est interest the course of current events, which have nec- 
essarily absorbed the greater part of her time and atten- 
tion. But Her Majesty has also made herself familiar 
with great imaginative writers, with poets such as 
Shakespeare, Scott and Tennyson, or with novelists such 
as Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, and it 



239 

may be added, Mrs. Oliphant, whose recent illness and 
death aroused the Queen's deepest sympathy. The 
Queen's acquaintance with German and French litera- 
ture is considerable, and her intimate knowledge of these 
languages is very noticeable in the purity with which she 
speaks them. In the last ten years a signal proof of the 
warm interest which Her Majesty has always taken in 
her Indian Empire has been given by the Queen's study 
of Hindustani, under the instruction of the Munshi Ab- 
dul Karim. 

It is impossible to close this brief record of Her 
Majesty's life without mention of the memorable event 
of the 22nd of June, 1897. No such scene has ever been 
witnessed in any capital of the world as was afforded by 
London on that day, and throughout the whole Empire 
the commemoration of our Sovereign of Great Britain 
and Ireland was celebrated with a burst of enthusiasm 
absolutely without parallel. 

The course to be followed by the State procession 
in going to and returning from St. Paul's Cathedral had 
been carefully planned, in order that the largest possible 
number of Her Majesty's subjects might be enabled to 
witness its passage through the streets. Eleven Prime 
Ministers of Colonial Houses of Representatives, accom- 
panied by detachments of troops, whose presence from 
distant lands bore living witness to the extent and loy- 
alty of the Empire, preceded the procession through 
crowds of enthusiastic spectators. The Queen herself, 
accompanied by children, grandchildren, and great- 
grandchildren, escorted by cavalcades of Princes, and 
preceded by representatives accredited by every Foreign 
Power, and by troops drawn from all portions of a realm 
on which the sun never sets, passed slowly through the 



240 

thronged and gaily-decorated streets to the Cathedral of 
St. Paul. There "Te Deum Laudamus" was sung with 
a genuine fervor of national thanksgiving for the pro- 
longation of the life of a Sovereign, whose rule has fos- 
tered all that is best in the character of the British people, 
and throughout the world has ever made for peace. Be- 
fore leaving Buckingham Palace Her Majesty sent to 
her subjects the message: "From my heart I thank my 
beloved people. May God bless them," which, in its 
adequacy and appropriateness, shows the perfect simplic- 
ity, womanly perception, and delicate tact, which has al- 
ways enabled the Queen to strike the chord that vibrates 
through the heart of the nation. 

In every town of Great Britain the occasion was cel- 
ebrated with rejoicing, and the population of each city 
and village vied with each other in raising memorials of 
the event. In London and throughout the country the 
Prince of Wales took the lead in instituting a fund to 
defray the debts of the existing hospitals and to provide 
with more certainty for their future maintenance. To- 
wards this object nearly a quarter of a million has been 
contributed, and this notwithstanding that half a million 
had been subscribed early in the year for the relief of 
the famished and plague-stricken natives of the East In- 
dies. The Princess of Wales made the destitute popula- 
tion of London her care, and the letter written by Her 
to the Lord Mayor of London met with such a hearty 
response that 300,000 of the poor of the metropolis took 
part in the rejoicings. 

The magnificent fleet assembled at Spithead was re- 
viewed, on the 26th of June, by the Prince of Wales on 
behalf of the Queen, who, to her deep regret, was unable, 
owing to the fatigue of the journey from Windsor, to be 



241 

present in person. No finer fleet had ever been assem- 
bled in any waters, and the sight was the more impres- 
sive when it was known that this tremendous naval power 
was assembled without drawing upon the fleets, always 
in commission upon the seas, for one ship or one man. 
At Aldershot a large force of troops was reviewed by Her 
Majesty in person; 28,000 men of the British and Colonial 
troops, under the command of H. R. H. the Duke of 
Connaught, passed before the Queen, conspicuous 
among them being the Guards, the whole seven battal- 
ions forming this historic brigade being assembled to- 
gether for the first time for forty years. The Queen af- 
terwards held a special review of the Colonial contingent 
at Windsor. There also she received the 100 Bishops 
who had come to attend the Pan-Anglican Conference 
at Lambeth, the sixtieth anniversary of the Queen's 
reign being also the 1,300th anniversary of the conver- 
sion of Britain to Christianity. 

From the Universities, and from all the great cor- 
porations and socieites, came deputations and addresses, 
all alike congratulating the Queen, and hoping that her 
beneficent rule might be still further prolonged. In an- 
swer the Queen published the following letter : — 

"Windsor Castle, July 15th, 1897. 

"I have frequently expressed my personal feelings 
to my people, and though on this memorable occasion 
there have been many official expressions of my deep 
sense of the unbounded loyalty evinced, I cannot rest sat- 
isfied without personally giving utterance to these sen- 
timents. 

"It is difficult for me on this occasion to say how 
truly touched and grateful I am for the spontaneous and 



242 

universal outburst of loyal attachment and real affection 
which I have experienced on the completion of the Six- 
tieth year of my Reign. 

"During my progress through London on June 22nd 
this great enthusiasm was shown in the most striking 
manner, and can never be effaced from my heart. 

"It is indeed deeply gratifying, after so many years 
of labor and anxiety for the good of my beloved Coun- 
try, to find that my exertions have been appreciated 
throughout my vast Empire. 

"In weal and woe I have ever had the true sympa- 
thy of all my people, which has been warmly recipro- 
cated by myself. 

"It has given me unbounded pleasure to see so many 
of my Subjects from all parts of the World assembled 
here, and to find them joining in the acclamations of 
loyal devotion to myself, and I would wish to thank them 
all from the depth of my grateful heart. 

"I shall ever pray God to bless them and to enable 
me still to discharge my duties for their welfare as long 
as life lasts. VICTORIA, R. I." 

Limits of space have excluded all but the most in- 
cidental allusions to salient events of Her Majesty's 
reign. Scarcely any reference has been made to consti- 
tutional changes which have peacefully effected a vast 
transference of political power, and yet, through the wis- 
dom of the Sovereign, have only served to strengthen the 
British Monarchy. In like manner the enormous growth 
of the Empire has been barely mentioned, an Empire 
which, in spite of varieites of race, language and climate, 
in spite also of differences of constitutions and creeds 
and customs, has been welded into unexampled unity by 



243 

the tie of personal loyalty to Queen Victoria. Nothing 
has been said of the religious forces which have added, 
at home and abroad, new chapters to the romance of spir- 
itual chivalry, and enriched and purified the springs of 
national life; of the poets, novelists, historians, and ar- 
tists who have added the lustre of their genius to the 
Victorian era; of the achievements of science, which has 
opened up new worlds of thought, revolutionized the 
arts alike of peace and war, ameliorated the conditions of 
existence, and lightened the burden of suffering; of the 
spread of education, which has given to millions the 
means of acquiring the knowledge that was once the pos- 
session only of the few. Nothing, finally, has been said 
of the material progress of the nation, of the revolution 
effected by the application of steam to manufacture and 
locomotion, or of the social and industrial problems, 
which rapid changes have set for our solution. Yet we 
might trust with confidence that such difficulties would 
be conquered, if, in future generations, all those who 
direct the counsels of the realm are as just, as prudent, as 
laborious, as unselfish, as permeated with love of country, 
as profoundly interested in the true well-being of the lab- 
oring classes, as Queen Victoria. 



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